So much for perfect, huh?
by bloomdea
Summary: After being Marked and chosen by the goddess, Nyx, herself, Zoey Redbird thought her life was starting to settle in. Little did she know, she now has to defeat the evil forces of Neferet that lies in the House of Night Tulsa and possibly, the whole world. Not only that, she also has to juggle her life between happiness and despair. Will she be able to handle it? DISCONTINUED.
1. The Journey

**Hey, guys! I hope there's people reading this. Heh. So, this is my first ever FanFiction and I hope I'm doing it right. Basically, this is my version of House of Night. I made a few changes. You'll find out as you read along. The first chapter seems boring but don't worry, it gets better. So, enjoy! And review. **

**DISCLAIMER: Obviously, I don't own the House of Night. I wish I did. **

Chapter 1: The Journey

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Only 5 minutes left. 5 minutes and school ends. I do love English but, Mrs. Brunwick's class is the most boring of all the other classes I ever had. I look around the classroom and my classmates are sleeping, staring into empty space and doing their own work. As for me, English class is my perfect opportunity to write my songs. Yes, I do write my own songs. Everything that I've been through, everything that I can't express or everything that I want but can't have, I write it all down into a song.

3 more minutes left. This class is so boring that I could die. I look to my left and see my best friend, Kayla Robinson, texting. We're sitting at the back of the class so it's not that obvious that Kayla is texting. We've been best friends since forever! She may be a bitch sometimes but, whatever. I still love her.

I keep looking around and my eyes landed on the dead guy outside the my classroom door. Okay, he wasn't technically "dead". He was undead. Or un-human. And he was staring at me which totally creeps the hell out of me. There was no mistaking what he was even if I had super powers, there was no frickin' way I could miss his Mark, the sapphire-blue crescent moon on his forehead and the additional tattooing of entwining knot work that framed his equally blue eyes. He was a vampyre, and worse. He was a Tracker.

_KRRRIIIINNNGGGGG!_

Finally! The school bell rang! I was the first to leave class but I was stopped by the dead un-dead guy. I was stunned; frozen in shock and fear. I mean, people get marked in our school dozens of times. I just never expected that it would happen to me.

"Zoey Redbird! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!"

He lifted one long, white finger and pointed at me. As my forehead exploded in pain, I heard Kayla screaming and a few gasps from my classmate before I dropped to my knees and everything faded to black.

_Ah, hell._

I woke up to the burning feeling on my skin and the throbbing in my head. I realized that I'm on something soft. A bed? But, how did I get here? Then I remembered everything. The Tracker, the Mark. Everything. I must be in the school's infirmary. I opened my eyes but closed it again. It's so bright, my eyes hurt. And my skin. It really feels like I'm on fire. I tried to get up but the throbbing in my head got worse. To sum it all up, I felt like crap.

"_U-we-tsi-a-ge-ya_? I know you're awake, Zoeybird." Hearing my grandma's voice, I fluttered my eyes open once again. I love how she calls me by my nickname. Somehow, it just soothes my heart. It was blurry at first but as my vision cleared, I realized that I'm not in the school's infirmary. In fact, I'm in my room. In Grandma Redbird's house. You see, I live with my Grandma Redbird in her house. It's not like I don't have a family. I do. It's just that my family doesn't really care about me. At least that's what it looks like. They always acted as if I didn't exist. So I decided to stay with my grandma and here is where everything is so peaceful. Whenever I have a problem, I can always count on her to help me feel better. It's more like she's my mum. Also, I get most of my inspirations for my songs here.

"Grandma? Wh-What happened?" I'm surprised by how weak I sounded. My voice was barely a whisper. I brought my left hand to my head, hoping that the throb would lessen. Too bad it didn't. "Grandma, could you please draw the curtains? My skin feels like it's on fire." I asked, trying to sound strong. She didn't say anything. She got up from the seat and went to draw the curtains.

"Zoeybird, we need to get you to the House of Night as soon as possible. If not, your body may reject the change and you do know what happens when it rejects the change, don't you?" My grandma said, her voice filled with worry and love and care.

I couldn't say anything. I just nod my head. I will die if I don't get to the House of Night soon. The nearest would be the Tulsa House of Night. I got up from my bed and followed grandma to her car, the throbbing in my head still there. My legs didn't sway, which surprises me judging by how weak and crappy I felt.

For the whole journey, I kept quiet and stare out the window. I sat in the passenger's seat while my grandma took the wheels. Even though she's pretty old, she drives like those drivers from _Fast and Furious. _Yes, my grandma is that awesome. Without realizing, I drifted to sleep.

I was in a dream. At least, it looks like it.

"_Zoey Redbird, come to me…" I got up and walked towards the voice. I didn't know where I was. The place was in complete darkness. "Come to me…" As I got closer and closer to the voice, I could see a figure appearing. "Come to me…" It said again. Her voice sounded like an angel. I wonder who it could be._

_I stopped and faced probably the prettiest woman I had ever seen. She wore a white dress that goes all the way to the ground. She had a heart-shaped face, with sparkling blue eyes, a smile so sweet that you thought it was impossible for it to frown. _

"_Wh-Who are you?" I stuttered, totally stunned by her beauty. I squint my eyes as she looks so bright that she's the light. She must be an angel.. "Am I dead?" I didn't realize I voiced my thoughts. _

_Then, I heard the most beautiful thing ever. Her laugh. She must be an angel to look and sound like a goddess. Maybe she is a goddess._

"_You are not dead, my Zoeybird. I am known by many names. But you, Zoeybird, may call me by the name which your world knows me today, Nyx." I was shocked when she called me by what my grandma always calls me._

"_Nyx," my voice barely above a whisper. "You're the vampyre goddess, aren't you?" I ask, sounding more confident._

"_Yes. Yes, I am. I have Marked you as my own. Remember, Zoeybird, you are special. Something dark is happening. Evil. You're the only one that can stop her." Her voice filled with love. Somehow, she was like my mum. If only my mum was that loving._

"_What? I don't understand. Evil? What evil? And, special how?" I was starting to get confused. _

_She laughed again. It sounded like music. "That, you will find out soon. For now, follow your destiny as it awaits for you in the House of Night." With that, she disappeared._

_And then everything faded to black again._

I was wakened up by my grandma. I couldn't tell if the dream I had about Nyx, my goddess, was just a dream or if it's real. But it seemed so real. I got out of the car and followed grandma to where my new life begins, into the House of Night. I was glad that the throbbing in my head was gone. Sleep does help after all. I knew that from this day onwards, my life would never be same. For I am now a fledging.

**Well, my first chapter for my first ever FanFic. What do you guys think? Does it suck? Or does it rock? Please review and tell me your opinions. In the next chapter, you'll get to meet the gang which means they'll be Stark! Alright, til' next chapter readers. REVIEW. :D**


	2. Intoductions

**Here's the 2nd Chapter, you guys! In this chapter, the gang will be introduced and Zoey will settle down in the House of Night. So tell me what you guys think! Read and review! **

**DISCLAIMER: Haven't you heard? P.C. Cast and her daughter, Kristin Cast, owns the House of Night. Sadly, I don't.**

Chapter 2: Introductions

"Ah, you must be Zoey Redbird!" Her voice was amazing. I knew instantly that she would be an incredible person.

"Zoeybird, this is Neferet. She is the High Priestess of the Tulsa House of Night. I contacted her when you were sleeping in the car just now." My grandma told me. That explains laughter I keep hearing when I was dreaming of Nyx. I still take note of what's going on when I'm asleep, you know.

"I am also your mentor and your teacher as I am the teacher for Vampyre Sociology." She looks breathtaking up-close. She had huge, almond-shaped eyes, the colour of deep, mossy-green. She had a heart-shaped face, and dark, glossy auburn red hair that falls in heavy waves around her waist. Her vampyre marks are lines that reminds me of ocean waves, framed from her brows, extending down around her cheekbones.

"Your marks!" Neferet gasped. Speaking about my marks, I haven't seen them yet which made me panicked. "My marks? What's wrong with my marks?" I look between Neferet and grandma. Grandma must have seen what's wrong because she was shocked too.

"This is unusual. You've just been marked and your mark is already filled in! Do you know why?" I wanted to tell Neferet my encounter with Nyx in my dreams but it felt wrong. It's like someone was telling me to keep it as a secret. Strange.

"I-uh-I was hoping you would have the answer to it since you are the High Priestess." She doesn't seem convinced by my answer by the look on her face but decided to let it go. I wanted to look away from her eyes but, something was telling me to keep looking at it and show her that I'm not hiding anything.

"I'm sure there's an explanation for this. Neferet, why don't you show her to her room and maybe, her roommate?" I could have kissed my grandma for saving my butt.

"Yes, of course. Before that, I am sorry to say this but Sylvia Redbird, I'm afraid you are not able to enter the House of Night with your granddaughter for safety reasons." Well, it doesn't look like it. Judging by the way she says it, it's more like she wants to get rid of her quickly. There's something really fishy about Neferet.

"Well, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, I must leave now. You'll be fine here. I love you, Zoeybird." With that she gave me one last hug and left with my car. She's left my side for less than a minute and I'm already missing her. I wonder if my family knew I was marked. I'll leave that for grandma to do. Right now, I'll just focus on my new life.

"Shall we?" I forgot that Neferet was here. She brought me to the cafeteria and towards a group of fledgings. It seems like they're having so much fun by how hard all of them are laughing.

"Stevie Rae, I'm glad you're here. This is Zoey Redbird, she's just been marked and she will be your new roommate. I was hoping you could show her around too." I couldn't help but notice the amount of hatred and sarcasm in her voice.

I looked at what must be Stevie Rae. She has big, expressive blue eyes, short curly blond hair and a round face and a cowgirl fashion sense. "Oh, Neferet. Well sure, of course!" That explains her cowgirl fashion sense. She has an Okie accent and it sounded quite cute too! There was some hatred and sarcasm in her voice too. Okay, what the hell is going on?

"Zoey, welcome to the Tulsa House of Night!" With that said, she left the cafeteria.

"Well it's nice meetin' ya, Zoey. Let me introduce you to my friends and you can get some dinner. After that, I'll give you a tour and show you our room. How's that?" I have to say, she is the happiest and most cheerful person I have ever met! Her personality is like a big ball of sunshine. Speaking about friends, I have to call Kayla. I mean, she suddenly disappeared. "Um, sure. Why not? I am kinda hungry too." I said while patting my stomach to show her that I was indeed, hungry.

"Aren't you a cute young lady. Let's get moving to the introductions. This, here, is Damien Maslin and right next to him is Jack Twist. They're together." Wait, together? Oh. How sweet. Damien has brown colored hair and deer-like brown eyes and has an excellent bone-structure while Jack has light blonde hair and dark brown eyes. They greeted me with their Hi's. They look so cute together. I smiled at them and waved.

"These two here are Shaunee and Erin. They're also known as Twins. You'll find out why after hanging out with them for about 2.5 seconds." Shaunee has high, curvy cheekbones, has thick hair that falls in dark waves around her shoulders and has dark eyes while Erin has long blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Pleasure meeting you, Zoey." They said at the same time. Ah, I see now. Wow, that's so cool. I must've voiced my thoughts out loud because they were all laughing at me now. I smiled sheepishly and blushed.

"This is Aphrodite. She's kinda bitchy but you'll see the good side of her." Aphrodite has cold blue eyes with blond hair. She looks like the wealthy type of girl. "Hag from hell." The Twins said together. I chuckled at that. Aphrodite just rolled her eyes and flipped her hair back with her hand and gave me a smile. For a hag from hell, her smile seemed real and like she meant it. I returned her with one of my smiles too.

"And lastly, this is Stark. Ain't he a hottie." I laughed. I knew she was being sarcastic. I looked at Stark. He has dark brown hair that almost touches his amber eyes. It's like he hasn't had a haircut for about 2 months. When our eyes met, it felt like we had an instant connection. It felt like I knew I could trust him. I want to tell him all of my problems and receive comfort and love from him. It felt like we're meant to be. Wait, what? Meant to be? I decided to break this awkward moment which is getting even more awkward.

"Um, hey Stark. Nice meeting ya." I sounded loud and confident instead of soft and shy. Nice one, Zoey! He was silent for a few moments. "Um, yeah. You too." I saw a blush coming up on his cheeks. Aw, he looks so cute when he blushes. Okay, I need to control myself. I just met him for like a few seconds and I'm already starting to think these kind of thoughts. We kept looking into each other's eyes but I broke the gaze by looking at Stevie Rae.

"Now you've met my friends, it's time to get you some food. Come on, I'll show you where they are." I followed Stevie Rae to get my dinner while trying to avoid his eye contact.

_Stark's POV_

Oh. My. Goddess. She is the most beautiful creature my eyes have ever laid upon. Zoey Redbird… The moment I look into her eyes, it felt like we were meant to be. I know. Crazy, right? Me, Stark, having these kind of feelings towards a girl that I barely met. And her eyes. Goddess, her eyes! I could get lost in them. It's beautiful. _She's _beautiful. And she looks so cute when she blushes. I've never felt anything like this for a girl before. _Oh goddess, help me._ I didn't know I was daydreaming about her until I felt Aphrodite's hand snapping in front of me.

"Helloooo… Stark! STARK! Earth to Stark!" Ugh, that spoiled-woman just couldn't shut up. Yeah, she may be a bitch but once you get to see the good side of her, she's not so bad after all.

"I'm sorry, what?" This Zoey girl must be that special to get me daydreaming about her for more than a minute!

"I was saying, could you move a lil' to the side so that our new friend, Zoey, could sit down and finally eat her dinner? You're making her starve, ya know." Stevie Rae said with her Okie accent. She sounded kinda pissed. She can be pretty bossy some time. It's like she's our mum. I moved so that Zoey would have some space to sit. "Thanks." I heard her say. Damn, her voice is like an angel. I continue eating my dinner, which consists of just a burger and some Coke.

_Zoey's POV_

Dinner was great. I got to know my newly-made friends. Stark has a sense of humor. He can't stop making all of us laugh. _Oooooh, turn on. _Wait, what? I've got to stop thinking about him. After dinner, Stevie Rae and the gang (Yes, I'm calling them a gang) gave me a tour of the House of Night. They gave details about it as well, such as the history behind it and stuffs like that. Well, mostly Damien was the one explaining the history and things like that. I bet he's the smartest. After the tour, we went up to mine's and Stevie Rae's room. Well, Damien and Jack had to leave so it's the girls and Stark. The first thing that caught my eye when we entered the room was Stevie Rae's life-sized Kenny Chesney poster that hung over her bed and a cowboy hat on her lamp by the bed. I'm glad that my things are all settled down. I even saw my guitar! Grandma surely knows what to pack when it comes to me. Suddenly, Stark walked over to my bed and took my guitar out from my case. Um, what is he trying to do? "Um, excuse me? Sorry to be rude but, nobody touches my guitar. And I mean nobody." I tried to sound polite but it came out quite harsh. I decided to smile to lessen the harshness in my voice.

"Oh, sorry. It's just that… You play the guitar too? And not any ordinary guitar! It's a real 1960 Les Paul classic! Joe Perry plays with this guitar!" I am surprised with his knowledge about guitars and music. I just smiled and nodded my head. I mean, what am I suppose to say?

"You know, maybe we could jam together or something. I play the guitar too." He looks kinda shy when he asked me that. I think I saw him blush. I laughed. "Yeah, sure. Why not?" We just looked into each other's eyes again until we got interrupted by Aphrodite.

"Sorry to interrupt your guitar talking crap but if you would excuse me, we're leaving. Enjoy your stay at the House of Night, Zoey!" Aphrodite left, followed by Erin and Shaunee. Some time later, Stark left too. When his hand accidentally touched mine, I felt a zap. _Soulmates…_I heard Nyx's voice in my head followed by her laughter. I'm sure Stark felt that too.

"So Zoey, the bathroom's over there. Why don't you go take a hot and nice shower and then, we can sort your things out and call it a day. No, called it a night." I laughed at Stevie Rae.

We managed to clear everything in like 2 hours and got ready for bed. "Night, Zoey." Stevie Rae said before turning of her lamp and going to bed. I yawned before saying goodnight to her. I didn't realize how tired I was when my head comes in contact with the pillow. I thought that maybe, life in the House of Night wasn't that bad after all. I closed my eyes and hope for the best for the next day.

**Well, that's the end of chapter 2. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review as I would really appreciate your opinion on my story. It's my first one and I'm kinda blur. Haha! Anyway, the next chapter will be up soon. With that, til' next chapter readers! Remember to review! :D**


	3. DuchessHelp!

**Hey, guys! Here's the 3rd Chapter of my first ever FanFiction. Before that, I would like to give a shoutout and say thanks to LovePeetaMellark106 for being the first person ever to add my story to her Story Alert subscription. Check out her stories! She writes good stories! So, thank you and congratulations! :D Another thing is that this chapter will be in _Stark's POV_. You know, just to find out more about him and look deeper into his background. Other than that, read along and review! :D**

Chapter 3: Duchess/Help!

_Stark's POV_

I left Zoey and Stevie Rae's room after that strange thing I felt when I touched Zoey. I'm sure she felt it too. Her eyes and expression says it all. And I think I heard Nyx's voice and laughter in my head. Soulmates? Could it mean that we were really meant for each other? Could it be the reason why I have these feelings for a girl that I've barely met? Is it because we're soulmates? I don't know if it's true or not. But how do you explain that jolt I felt when my hand came in contact with hers? Questions and more questions are swimming in my head, all in desperate need of finding the answers. Before I could go further deep in thought, I heard a girl's voice that I've dreaded ever since I arrived in this House of Night. Wait, how did she get to the boys' dorm at this hour? How come she's not in trouble?

"Oh, Staaaaark! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! How's my baby doing?"

_Oh, shit. _

"Becca." I whispered, my voice filled with fear.

Without thinking, I ran to the nearest room and decided to never ever come out until I'm positive that Becca is nowhere near the boy's dorm. Thank goddess that I ran into Damien's room. Unfortunately, I came at the wrong time. I think I interrupted something private. You know what I mean…

"STARK! Can't you see what we're doing here?" Whoa! This is the first time I've actually seen Damien get pissed.

"And, don't you know how to knock?" Jack exclaimed while throwing a pillow at me.

"But-I-uh-Becca-she-", I stuttered.

"Well, we certainly don't give a shit about Becca. Now, get out, will you?" Then, Damien walk towards me and pushed me out the door. Well, that'll means I'll be sleeping alone tonight. Jack is my roommate and looking at what happened just now, I don't think he'll be sleeping in our room today. Besides, Damien doesn't have any roommate at all.

"Stark! Are you trying to hide from me?" Becca said. And her voice wasn't angry or pissed or mad or whatever. It sounded like she's trying to tease me! "Aw, that's so sweet! You're trying to play hide and seek with me! Aren't you a lil' old for that?" What? That girl is insane! Oh wait, she actually is. She's a psychotic bitch!

"What? Becca, no! Look-" I was immediately cut off by the feeling of something soft pressing against my lips. Oh, goddess! Becca's kissing me! I pushed her away from my lips after I realized what she is trying to do. How am I supposed to get rid of this crazy girl? Then I heard the most amazing thing I've heard for the entire day! Well, besides Zoey's voice.

"Becca? What are you doing in the boys' dorm? You're supposed to be in your room, asleep."

Thank you, Erik!

Becca immediately left without saying anything. She basically ran away. I breathed out the breath that I didn't realize I was holding.

"Erik! Thank goodness you're here! You, my friend, are a hero!" I said while patting Erik at the back. He does look like a hero. Just look at him! Look at his hair and his crystal blue eyes! He looks like Superman!

"Whatever, man. Hey, I need to ask you something. Is it true that there's a fledging who just got marked today but her mark is completely filled in and it's not an outline?" Ah, news spread around this House of Night instantaneously.

"Yeah, it's true. Zoey's crescent is filled in." Erik smirked when he found out that the new fledging is indeed, a female. Yeah, he's kind of good looking and he got through the Change which just adds even more to his charming personality. But nobody should like Zoey just because she's special and different. People should like Zoey because of who she is. They should like her because she's sweet, talented, friendly, amazing and all the good things you can think of. They should like her because she can make people feel better and just forget about all the problems and worries that they are facing.

"Stark! Hey, dude! You in there? Earth to Stark!" I must've completed zoned out that I didn't realize Erik is still standing in front of me.

"Um, yeah? Sorry, I completely zoned out." I told him the truth.

Erik said his goodbye and left because he has some 'unfinished business' with his students. He's the same age as me but since he's Changed and all, he decided to teach drama here in the House of Night. I have to admit, that self-proclaimed nerd can really act and do drama. This, again, adds more to his charming personality.

I walked back to my room. Once I got in, I decided to take a quick shower. For the whole time, my thoughts have been about Zoey and only, Zoey. After about 15 minutes, I got out of the shower and received the surprise of my life. There, sitting on my bed, is Duchess! Duchess, my dog that's been with me before I was Marked and now! He went missing for the past three days and I've been worried but I don't need to! She's back, sitting on my bed, sticking her tongue out and wagging her tail. She quickly ran to me and I hugged her. Duchess started licking my face.

"Oh, Duchess! I've missed you too! Where have you been for the past 3 days, girl? I've been worried sick about you!" It's true. I've been worried sick about her. But my wariness lessen down when I met Zoey for the first time in the cafeteria just now. All I get is a bark from her as a reply.

I went over to my bed and my bow and arrows caught my eye. It brings bad memories that I don't even want to talk about. I can't bare feeling the pain and hurt from that memory again. I brought Duchess over to my bed and gave her one last hug before I really went to bed. Duchess lay on the floor while I slept on my bed. It's good that she's finally back. I couldn't, no wouldn't live without her. She's the only family that I have left that didn't abandon me. Again, I do not want to bring up another bad memory from the past. I closed my eyes and my last thought was; I am deeply, absolutely, positively in love with Zoey Redbird.

**Alright, this took me about 2 hours. It's not that long but, it's still a chapter. So you know what you need to do! Review and tell me what you think! I really need your opinion on my story! How am I supposed to know if people actually like it and that I can continue writing it? So, REVIEW! :D The next chapter will be up soon. Latest would be 2 days later. REVIEW!**


	4. Hurt

**Hey, guys! Here's Chapter 4. Yay, I got 2 reviews! I hope I get more in the future. I would like to thank Luna-Cara and LovePeetaMellark106 for being the first 2 people to review my story. So thank you, guys! :D Oh and FYI, there'll be a bit of fluff between Zoey and Stark in this chapter and some lines are from the first book, Marked, because I couldn't write it better than P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. Remember to review once you finished reading this! It'll mean a lot to me. Who knows I might actually consider finishing this story. **

**DISCLAIMER: Blah blah blah. I do not own the House of Night series. End of story.**

Chapter 4: Hurt

I woke up to someone poking me. At least it felt like it was a someone. I tried to turn over, hoping that that 'someone' would get the message that I didn't want to get up. Well that 'someone' certainly didn't get my message because that 'someone' kept poking me. Then I heard a voice that made me recalled what happened yesterday and that made me realized that my life will never be the same. I heard Stevie Rae's voice.

"Hey, Zoey? It's time for you to get up. Classes will start soon." She said but this time, she was shaking me instead of poking me.

I turned back over and opened my eyes. "What time is it?" My voice clearly showing that I am still in my sleepy mode.

"It's five P.M. Come on, get up. You don't want to miss your first day, don't you?" Okay, I swear that Stevie Rae can be my mother. Her voice is full of care and love. I bet she'll make a great mum when she has kids. Wait, can vampyres make babies?

"Five P.M.? How come classes start in the evening?" I asked, totally confused. I'm still a newbie, okay.

"Well we can't really walk under the sun, can we?" Ah, I see her point now.

"So, what time do our classes start?" I asked while sitting up and trying to wipe out any remains of sleep from my eyes.

"Classes begin at eight A.M., and end at three A.M.," she explained. "Teachers are available until three thirty A.M. to give students extra help. The gym is open until dawn, the exact time which you will always know as soon as you have completed the Change. Until then dawn time is clearly posted in all the classrooms, common rooms, and gathering areas, including the dining hall, library, and gym. Nyx's Temple is, of course, open at all hours, but formal rituals are held twice a week right after school. The next ritual will be…" Stevie Rae seems to be in thought before she continued. "Tomorrow." Then she gave me her warm signature smile.

"Well that's clearly a lot of information than I expected it to be but thanks anyway." I returned her with one of my smiles.

I got up from my bed and picked out any clothes that I saw in my cupboard and headed for the bathroom to take my shower. Stevie Rae was doing her bed when I was heading for the showers.

"Want me to make your bed?" See what I mean when I say she'll make a great mum?

"Oh no, it's okay. I can do that by myself." I rushed those words out before she makes her way to my bed and started making it.

I closed the door and stood in front of the mirror, my hands on the sides of the sink. I sighed heavily. I lifted my head, looked up to the mirror and gasped. It was like staring into the face of a stranger that seems familiar. You know, that person you see somewhere and you think you know that person but you really don't? This time, that familiar stranger was me.

She had my eyes that were the same hazel colour that turned green or brown sometimes. The only difference is how big and round her eyes were. My eyes had never been big and round. She had my hair too. Long and straight and almost as dark as my grandma's hair before her hair decided to turn into sliver. The girl in the mirror had my high cheekbones, long, strong nose, and wide mouth. But her face was pale and my face had never been that pale. My skin was always olive-ish, much darker than the rest of my family. I hoped that it was the lightning in the bathroom that causes my skin to be this pale.

I looked at the tattoo that was perfectly positioned in the middle of my forehead. It's completely filled in. It was suppose to be only a dark blue outline of the crescent moon like Stevie Rae's, Stark's, Damien's, Jack's, the Twins' and every other fledgings but no, it's completely filled in. I must have stared at myself in the mirror for about 10 minutes because the next thing I heard was Stevie Rae's worried voice behind the doors of the bathroom.

"I-I'm fine. No need to worry about me." I stuttered, still couldn't believe that that was me in the mirror.

"Well okay, then. Hey, I gotta go. Something important came up and my presence is needed. Are you okay if I leave you here? I could get Stark to help you around here if you want." Stevie Rae asked.

"Yeah, sure. That'll be great." My eyes widened and a small smile was forming on my lips when Stark's name was mentioned.

With that she left and I got into the showers and turn it on, letting the warm water soothe me. I don't want to leave this place. The showers always calmed me. I seem to forget all my worries and my problems when I'm in the shower. It's like the water that comes out of it has special powers. I know, that does not make sense at all.

I got out of the shower at about 15 minutes later. I put on my clothes which is, of course, my bra and panties, my favourite black denim skinny jeans and a red shirt that Grandma Redbird had gotten for me a few months ago when we were shopping together. I miss her. I decided to go light on my make-up like I always do. I'm not a huge fun of make-up so you don't see me wearing thick make-up like those girls do just to get attention. Trust me, they look twice the ugly.

I got out and look at the time. It was only six thirty P.M. I still have a few more hours before classes start and 1 hour before going to the cafeteria and get my breakfast. I have to say I'm not use to having breakfasts in the evenings but I'm not the old me anymore. My life has changed and I have to get used to it.

I decided to check my phone and call Kayla. I'm really worried about her. The last time I saw her was outside Mrs. Brunwick's class, where I got marked. And the last time I heard her voice was at that place to, when she screamed.

I dialed her number and waited for her to answer. She should be at home by now, having dinner with her parents. She picked up after the fourth ring.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey, K!" I heard a few noises in the background that sounded like her little brothers. She has two little brothers. They're twins. Max and Zack both aged 7. They are like little demons!

"Z-Zo-Zoey?" The way she said my name was like she was scared of me. Why would she be scared of me? Yeah, I got marked but that doesn't mean that she should be scared of me. I'm still me. I'm still the Zoey Redbird she has known her entire life. Right?

"Don't talk to me! You're a bloodsucking dead animal! You're not my best friend anymore! Don't ever call me! You're a beast! A bloodsucking beast!" After that, she hung up on me.

I dropped my phone to the floor and sat on my bed. At this point, I could feel hot tears on my cheeks, flowing non-stop. I was hurt. I was crushed. My best friend just called me a bloodsucking beast. More and more tears came out and I began to sob heavily. All I could think about is how my best friend turned my back on me. I curled myself on my bed and hugged myself, still crying. If this is how my best friend reacts then, what about my family? My parents would disown me and the only person I have left is my grandma. This brought more tears to my eyes. I cried and cried for I don't know how long. Minutes? Maybe hours? I didn't care if I have classes to attend at the House of Night. I could only think of how my best friend just called me a bloodsucking beast! She hated me! All because I was marked. I heard someone opened the door and came in.

"Hey, Zoey? I was just wonder-" He stopped when he saw me in this state of condition.

The next thing I knew, I was being brought to Stark's chest and receiving comfort from him. He murmured soothing words to me and hugged me close to him, one of his hands hugging me close to him and the other one stroking my hair. I even felt him kissing the top of my head once or twice. And all I did was continuing sobbing and crying.

I have to admit, being in Stark's arms was really comforting. I felt whole. I snuggled closer to him, wanting to feel his comfort and his warmth even more. It's like he's my other half. I knew it's too early for this but I couldn't help but allow myself to feel this soul type connection with him. It's like he is the only one that could make me forget about what had happened just now.

After what seems like an hour, I began to calm myself down. I looked at the time and it shows seven fifteen P.M. and I haven't eaten my breakfast yet.

"Are-are you okay, Zoey? Wanna talk about it? I mean, if it helps." Stark was still holding me in his arms and I'm starting to like it.

"It's-it's just that I called my best friend and-and she started shouting at me. She-she called me a-a b-b-bloodsucking beast and then she hung up on me." I couldn't hold my tears anymore so I let them flow out of my eyes.

"If-if this is how my best friend reacts then, I'm sure how m-my family reacts will be e-even worse!" I said in between sobs.

He holds me closer to him and stroked my hair again. I can't believe I just told Stark that and let him comfort me even though we were a little too touchy for my liking. He sighed before he continued talking again.

"Listen, the Twins are planning to have a movie night tonight and we're all going so why don't you come along? It could make you forget about it." Stark said as he pulled me out of his embrace so that I could face him directly.

I nodded my head as a reply. He got up from my bed and came back a minute later with a box of tissues. He wiped my tears and my smudged make-up away from my face. I decided to take a good look of his face.

He is kind of hot and good-looking. I could get lost in his amber eyes by just staring at it for less than a second. And his lips. I wonder how it's like to kiss those beautiful lips of his. Wait, kiss? What am I doing?

"Thanks." I said, my voice barely above a whisper, once he had finished wiping away my tears and smudged make-up away from my face.

He grinned and it adds more to his good looking-ness.

"Come on. You need to get some breakfast and classes will start in less than an hour." He grabbed my hand and walked to the cafeteria with me.

Stark wrapped his hand around my waist and pulled me closer to him. For the whole time while we were walking to the cafeteria, we didn't say anything. We just walked in silence, enjoying each other's company. And it was amazing and calming.

**Did you guys see the new episode of The Secret Circle and The Vampire Diaries? IT WAS BEYOND AWESOME! I pity Jake cuz he has to leave Cassie. They look cute together! Oh, and that delena moment in TVD! –fangirling- Haha!**

**Okay, gotta admit. Not my greatest one. And this chapter is longer than my other chapters which make this the longest chapter I have ever written. So tell me what you think by reviewing on my story. It really, really means a lot to me. So please, please, please review! The next chapter will be up soon. Maybe tomorrow since it's the school holidays and I'm not that busy. So happy 11/11/11 which I don't see why we should celebrate it as there'll be 12/12/12 and 13/13/13 afterwards. So, til' next chapter and REVIEW, PLEASE! :D**


	5. Movie Night

**Here's Chapter 4! And I am so happy that I reached 6 reviews. Thanks, you guys. I will reply to those reviews that I can't reply to at the end of this story. I'm really glad you like it. It really made my day seeing those reviews. So I hope you guys will like this chapter too and as usual, please review. It would really, really mean a lot to me. So read on and don't forget to review. It'll take less than a minute! Unless your computer is lagging or your review is long. He he. I'll stop. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the House of Night series. However, I do own the plot. Other than that, it's all owned by the amazing P.C. Cast and the talented Kristin Cast. Wait, both of them are talented and amazing. **

Chapter 5: Movie Night

The rest of the day went by pretty fine. I totally forgot about the incident that happened between me and Kayla. I kept getting weird stares from other fledgings and it's starting to bug me. When Stark introduced one of his friends to me, I think his name is Erik Night, Erik asked about my mark and I totally lost it at that moment.

**-FLASHBACK-**

"Hey, Zo! You don't mind me calling you Zo, right?" Gosh, the way he started becoming panic made me wanted to just laugh at his face but he looked cute.

"Yes, Stark, you can call me Zo." I said and I couldn't help but chuckled at the end.

"I want to introduce you to one of my good friends, Erik Night. He wanted to meet the Famous Zoey Redbird." He said 'Famous Zoey Redbird' like I was some kind of magician.

Erik's a Changed vampyre and he decided to teach Drama here in the House of Night. His sapphire tattoos are an intricate series of knots that form a mask surrounding his crystal blue eyes. He is quite good looking. He kinda reminds me of Superman.

"I'm finally meeting the Zoey Redbird everyone has been talking about." He grasped my forearm. I guess that's how we greet each other instead of shaking hands. It was a weird way but his grasped was warm and firm.

"Well, it's nice meeting you too." I said and smiled back at him. He seems friendly. Maybe we could get along. But I was wrong.

"If you don't mind me asking, how come your mark is filled in when you just got Marked?"

At that moment, I totally lost. It was the tenth time, I counted, that someone asked me that question or any question that has got to do with my mark. How can you just be calm when you've been asked the same question _ten _times a day? Ten freaking times!

I heard Stevie Rae saying "Oh oh" right next to me.

"For the tenth time, I don't freaking know how come my mark is filled in! Why can't everybody just leave me alone and stop asking questions about my freaking mark? ARGHHHH!" I immediately stormed off after that. I didn't care if he is a teacher. These people really get on my nerves.

**-END OF FLASBACK-**

I collected my schedule after that and I was quite happy with the classes that I have to take. My name was at the top of the schedule, printed in bold letters, _ZOEY REDBIRD, ENTERING THIRD FORMER, _as well as the date, which was five days before the Tracker had Marked me.

_1st Hour – Vampyre Sociology 101. Rm. 215. Prof. Neferet_

_2nd Hour – Intro to Music. Rm. 314. Prof. Vento_

(There were Drama and Sketching as the other 2 choices and luckily, I didn't take Drama because the teacher is Erik Night and after what happened just now, I don't think it'll be a good idea.)

_3rd Hour – Lit 101. Rm. 214. Prof. Penthesilea_

_4th Hour – Fencing. Gymnasium. Prof. D. Lankford_

_LUNCH BREAK_

_5th Hour – Spanish 101. Rm. 216. Prof. Garmy_

_6th Hour – Intro to Equestrian Studies. Field House. Prof. Lenobia_

I was thankful that I don't have to take Geometry anymore but Spanish? I don't know a single word in Spanish. Maybe simple words like _Hola _or _Gracias _or _Por Favor. _Other than that, I am totally blurred about Spanish.

My favourite class was, of course, Intro to Music. I was glad that Stevie Rae and Stark are in the same class as me. Stevie Rae told me that she wanted to be a country music star. Why not? A girl can dream, right? What that got me nervous was that I had to perform in front of the entire class. Since I'm the new kid, Prof. Vento wanted me to perform and see what talent I had. I've never performed in front of anyone before which really got me nervous.

**-FLASHBACK-(Again)**

"Ah, Zoey Redbird. So glad of you to join us. I see you brought your own guitar which is good as I don't think there's any guitar left for you to use in here. Now, why don't you perform for us?" Prof. Vento looks kinda old. He looks like he is in his 70s. He had silver hair and his head is bold in the middle. He's got quite a big tummy too.

"P-p-p-p-perform?" I stuttered.

"Yes, perform. Come on, don't be shy."

Stark, being the most awesome friend ever (note the sarcasm?), pushed me forward. I took out my guitar, sat on the chair and played a song. I even sang it. I decided to do one of my favourites, The A-Team by Ed Sheeran.

_White lips, pale face_

_Breathing in snowflakes_

_Burnt lungs, sour taste_

_Light's gone, day's end_

_Struggling to pay rent_

_Long nights, strange men_

_And they say_

_She's in the Class A Team_

_Stuck in her daydream_

_Been this way since 18_

_But lately her face seems_

_Slowly sinking, wasting_

_Crumbling like pastries_

_And they scream_

_The worst things in life come free to us_

_Cos we're just under the upper hand_

_And go mad for a couple of grams_

_And she don't want to go outside tonight_

_And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland_

_Or sells love to another man_

_It's too cold outside_

_For angels to fly_

_Angels to fly_

Everyone got silent after I ended. I thought that they all hated it and that I was horrible. I mean, it's my first time performing. I looked down on my feet. I heard someone clapped and looked up. It was Stark. Stevie Rae followed and then the whole class started clapping and whooping me. I have to say that was the best thing that ever happened during the entire week.

**-END OF FLASHBACK-**

Then I remembered that Stark invited me to the movie night that the Twins had planned out. We were having a movie night at four in the afternoon. I was not comfortable with my new schedule but hey, I have to get used to it. I am no longer a human. We watched _It's Kind of A Funny Story _and we were having fun until something came up. They had to go to a Dark Daughters and Sons meeting that Neferet held and it was important. We had to cancel movie night. Although Stark wasn't needed in the meeting, he still had to go because Neferet had 'something important' to talk about with him. And that is how I ended up staying in my room and doing nothing right now.

I showered. I did my homework. They're still not back yet. It's been an hour already. Suddenly, I thought about how Kayla hated me and thought about my family. I thought about how my parents would react to this. Especially my step-dad, and he is such a douche bag. I wonder how my mum ended up with him. She even followed whatever he says. I thought about how my little brother would react, not being able to see me everyday, to tuck him to sleep at night or to cut out the crust from the bread every morning. I didn't realize I was crying. I was dying to find out how they would react and there was only one way to find out. I called them.

"Hello? Montgomery's Residence." My mum answered. Just hearing my mother's voice, I broke into tears again. I was surprised my mum recognized my voice.

"Zoey? Is that- is that you, honey? Oh, Zoey! I've missed you so much!" My mum broke into tears. I didn't know what to say. The only thing I could only cry.

Then someone snatched the phone away from my mum.

"Listen, you Satan. From now on, you're no longer part of our family. You hear that? We don't want any part of you near our family. You bring such disgrace to our family! Don't even think about calling here anymore!" My step-dad said. Right now, more tears are flowing out of my eyes. I've never cried like this before.

I heard someone crying in the background. It sounds like my mum. Then I heard another thing that brought more tears to my eyes. It was my little brother's voice, Roby.

"Is that Zoey? I want to talk to her! I miss her so much! I want to talk to my sister!" He was crying too.

My step-dad hung up.

I was bawling my eyes out by now. I have no one with me anymore. I only have Grandma Redbird left. My family, my step-dad actually, just disowned me. I dropped to my knees and cried even harder while hugging myself. I didn't care if the whole dorm heard me crying. I didn't care about anything. I'm alone. I'm alone in this world. I lost my best friend and now, I've lost my family. I am completely alone. In times like this, I wish Grandma Redbird was with me. She'll know how to calm me down. But she's not! She's living happily as a human! She doesn't have to worry if people would accept her or not. Suddenly, I hated being Marked. I wanted my old life back. I wanted everything to go back to normal. I wanted my best friend back. I wanted my family back. I wanted to be human again.

I cried so hard that night; I didn't realize someone entered the room. I was brought into someone's embrace. I didn't know who it was. I was too busy crying my eyes out. I'm guessing it was a 'he' because I don't think a female would have muscles that huge on their arms. He kissed the top of my head, murmured soothing words into my ears, hugged me closer and stroked my hair. I even think I ruined his shirt with my tears.

I couldn't remember what happened next. I felt someone carrying me and lay me on my bed and kissed my forehead. The rest was overpowered by darkness.

_Stark's POV_

I was glad that I got to have some alone time with Zoey when Neferet called a meeting and the rest needed to go since they're part of the council. Boy, was I wrong. Neferet decided to have some tea-time with me too. What does that bitch wants? She's been ruining my life by begging me to start shooting again. I prayed to Nyx that it would be about something else.

We entered the room and Neferet was already there, sipping a cup of coffee behind her desk. She greeted us with a smile. Ha ha ha, fake! It was obvious her smile was fake. I bet she wanted to get this over with so she wouldn't get to see all of our faces again. When she spoke, it was full of hatred and sarcasm.

"Glad you all agreed to join me. I thought all of you wouldn't be able to join me in this meeting." Agreed to join you? More like forced.

"But first, I would like to speak with Stark." My eyes shot up at the mentioned of my name and my face completely showed that I was confused.

"I understand that that incident has haunted you but, you cannot waste your goddess-given talents away." Ah, again with this stupid talk.

"I'm not wasting my goddess-given talent. I'm preventing myself from killing the lives of other people. Especially the ones that I love." My voice rose at the end.

"Stark, I'm sure that William wanted to continue shooting instead of you grieving for his death!" Neferet got really pissed but I was even more pissed than her. How dare she bring William into this conversation?

"William has nothing to do with this! It was my decision to stop shooting!" By now, my loud and booming voice roared. I caught some of my friends flinching.

"If William was here, what do you think he would want you to do? I'm sure he wouldn't want you to stop! I'm sure he would want you to continue and practice!" I couldn't take any of these anymore.

"I don't care if he thinks I should continue and not worry about his death. It's my choice. I chose to stop shooting. My. Choice!" With that I left.

I wanted to go back to my dorm but something was pulling me towards the girls' dorm and to Zoey's room. It's like I was needed there. I got to her room and saw her on her knees, bawling her eyes out. Who would do such thing to such a sweet girl like Zoey?

For the second time, I wrapped my arms around her and began calming her down. I don't think she knows my presence. I kissed the top of her head, murmured soothing words, hugged her closer to me and stroked her hair. I was mad now. I was mad at someone doing this to her. I swear I would kill that person who did this to her. What did they do that made her cry this badly? She cried as if someone close to her had passed away. I did the only thing I was able to do at this moment. I was there for here. I didn't care she ruined my shirt. All I wanted to do was make her stop crying. It hurts me to see her cry. _Oh, goddess, help me_. _I would do anything to make her stop crying like this. _I prayed to Nyx. A few seconds later, I heard her voice in my head. _Care for her… Be there for her… Love her… _I did what she told me.

After what seems like hours passed, I realized that her crying stopped. I looked at her face and saw that she was asleep. I carried her in my arms and put her to bed. I tucked her in just like how my mum used to tuck me in when I was young. I kissed her forehead and saw her lips curved into a smile. I decided to wait for Stevie Rae to get back since I don't want her to be left alone. I sat on the bed next to her, stroking her hair and watch her sleep. Not like how Edward Cullen watched Bella sleep. That's just creepy. Ugh. I kept Zoey, _my_ mate, company while waiting for Stevie Rae to get back from the meeting.

**Vals – Thank you for liking my story and I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, what's so special about 11/11/11? There'll be 12/12/12 and 13/13/13 and so on. They even made a movie with that title. :/ Anyway, thank you for reading my story! I hope you'll like my other chapters too. :D**

**Monika – Guuuuurl, you and I have the same thing in common! Just look at them! They're so cute together! :D**

**Hannah – Aw, thank you. That means a lot to me. I hope you'll love my other chapters too. THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU! Hahaha! :D**

**I would also like to thank HonObsessed to add my story to his/her Story Alert Subscription. Thank you! I love you! Heh! :D**

**Yay! That's the chapter. It's kinda sad. I kinda cried. Okay, so you know what to do. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Please, it would really mean a lot to me! It'll motivate me to update faster! So I hope you enjoyed this chapter like how I enjoyed writing it. And don't you just love Ed Sheeran? If you don't know him, you should check him out on YouTube! HE IS FREAKING AWESOME! :D Okay, enough. SO, PLEASE REVIEW! Til' next chapter readers. **


	6. The Dream

**I just realized I said Chapter 4 in the previous chapter and not Chapter 5. Boo.**

**I also realized that I said there'll be 13/13/13. How dumb of me. Double boo.**

**Okay, I wanna say how happy I am right now! I mean, I got lots of positive reviews for the previous chapter! Okay, not that lot but still… It's a lot for me! :D I wanna thank you guys for reading my story! Virtual pizzas for all of you! :D I'll reply to those reviews that I can't reply to at the end of the chapter. **

**I wanna thank Luna-Cara for being the first person to add my story to her Favourite Stories List. So thank you and you just made my day. :D**

**Moving on, I would like to apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes. I'm feeling a bit sleepy. I also added information about Stark's family since I really don't know them. I hope you like and please, REVIEW. It would take less than two minutes. **

**DISCLAIMER: Hmmm…. I don't know, really. Do I own House of Night? Oh, wait. I just remembered I don't. **

Chapter 6: The Dream

_I was in a meadow. Green trees and colorful flowers were surrounding me. It felt peaceful around here. At the far end, I could see a few hills, all huge and high. Birds chirping like those singing birds in the Snow White. The place looked like a fairytale movie. I looked down and saw what I was wearing. I was wearing a yellow summer dress that hugged my curves and began to flow out from my waist all the way above my knees. I was barefooted. This reminds me of Alice in Wonderland except that Alice doesn't wear summer dresses. As I walked further into the meadow, the grass beneath my feet starts to tickle them. The wind blew my hair and the sweet scent of lavender blew past me. It reminds me of Grandma Redbird. I miss her so much. I wonder when I can see her again. I completely zoned out, thinking about my grandma, that I didn't realize Nyx was standing in front of me and when she spoke, of course, it shocked me._

"_Soon, my child. You will see your grandmother soon." She smiled and her smile was warm and graceful. I wonder if she ever got mad considering the fact that her smile never frowns. Well I've never seen her frown before. _

"_Nyx." I breathed out her name, seeing her as a totally incredible and awe-inspiring person._

"_I don't have much time before you get up, Zoeybird. You need listen closely and carefully. This is important." She sounded panicked and her face turned serious and humourless._

_I nodded, letting her know that I'm taking it in._

"_Something bad and dangerous is happening and if you don't stop it, _he_ will rise and a war will break out." I was utterly confused. Who is 'he'?_

_As if she read my mind, she continued. "That, I cannot tell you. It is you and your friends' job to find out."_

"_Well, how am I supposed to find out when I have no clue at all?"_

_Her face softened and she rested her hand on my shoulder. "Believe in yourself and you will find a way."_

_I lifted my head and looked at her. My lips pressed tightly together, forming a line. Can I do this?_

"_She is not who you think she is, Zoeybird. I don't think she's following my path anymore. She's filled with darkness. Evil is surrounding her." Worry was written in her voice. Who was she talking about?_

_I put my brows together, taking it all in. Who is this 'she' Nyx is talking about? I am really confused. Who are these people Nyx is talking about? And what do they want?_

_As if she read my mind again, she answered me. "You will know soon, my child. All will be revealed sooner or later." _

_But, why me? What is so special about me that only I could stop this from happening? I voiced out my thoughts, hoping that Nyx would give me at least a clue._

"_Like I said, Zoeybird, you," She pointed a finger to my heart and continued, "are special. Accept that about you and you will begin to understand there is true power in your uniqueness."_

_I just nodded my head. She let go of her hand that was on my shoulder and took my cheeks in her hands._

"_Zoey Redbird, Daughter of Night, I name you my eyes and ears in the world today. A world where good and evil are struggling to find balance."_

_Then the Goddess Nyx, the ancient personification of Night, leaned forward and kissed me on my forehead and disappeared._

_I thought the dream was going to end when suddenly, everything around me shifted and I was no longer in the meadow. I was in the grounds of House of Night. _

_It was in the middle of the night, and there was a brilliant moon shining above the huge old oaks that shaded everything. There was something different about the atmosphere. Instead of the protected and safe atmosphere, it was more of a dangerous and scary atmosphere. On my left was Stark and the Twins while on my right was Stevie Rae, Damien and Jack. What was going on?_

_All of them were staring into something, someone, to be exact. I followed their gazes and it landed on Neferet. Her hands were on her hips and her hair was flying all over the place. She looked different. She was even more stunning, even more powerful, and even more _deadly. _She caught my eye and smirked at me. She no longer looks like the motherly figure I thought she was._

_I saw something shifted by her side. It was a pair of wings that belonged to a man that looked half-human and half-bird. He had wings the colour of raven's wings and long, thick black hair. He seemed to have the appearance of an angel. He found my gaze and I found out that his eyes are the colour of amber. He gave me his man-eating smile and a shiver went down my spine. I looked behind them and saw a flock of ravens but they were no ordinary ravens. They have the eyes and the limbs of a man but the bodies of giant ravens. What are they?_

_The next thing I knew, all of us charged forward at the same time; me and my friends fighting against Neferet and whatever that was with her. I felt like my body was in control because if it were me in this situation, I'd run away instead of facing it. I heard a loud alarm ringing; so loud I fell to my knees and covered both of my ears with my hands. I saw Neferet moving towards me but before she could take another step towards me, the dream ended and everything faded to black._

I opened my eyes, sweat dripping of my forehead. I took a number of deep breaths to control my breathing and to calm myself down. I realized that the ringing sound was still there. Then I heard an unexpected voice.

"Zoey, could you please turn off the alarm clock? It's killing me!" Stark said, his eyes still closed and voice clearly showed that he's not fully awake.

I turned the alarm clock off and looked at him sleeping. His hair was tousled and he was curling up on the seat next to my bed. I saw him opened one of his eyes and smirked.

"See something you like?" I didn't realize I was smiling and admiring him. I quickly looked down to my fingers and began playing with them. I felt a blush on my cheeks.

I decided to say something before my weakness begins to show and I do not like that to happen. "Um, what are you doing here? And, where's Stevie Rae?" When I said that, I really began to wonder. Where _is _Stevie Rae?

"Oh, she called last night and told me that she's sleeping over with Stevie Rae. You know _girl talk_." I couldn't help but chuckled at that.

"The reason why I'm here," He yawned and stretched at the same time, "is because I saw you bawling your eyes out and so, I decided make sure you were okay." His faced turned serious and worry was evident in his voice when he said the last part.

"He was the guy with the huge muscles on his arm." I muttered under my breath.

"I'm sorry, what?" _Oh, crap. _I said that out loud, didn't I?

"Oh, it's nothing. Umm, thanks, for being there I guess." I smiled shyly.

"Naw, that's nothing. That's what friends are for, right?" He smiled his boyish smile.

We looked into each other eyes. It was filled with care, love and something that I don't think friends have towards the other, _lust_. Is he falling for me? Or worse, am _I _falling for _him_? He moved closer and I did the same. We moved until I felt his breathe on my skin. We didn't break our eye contact. He leaned in until our lips were an inch apart and stayed there for a moment. I could feel myself heating up and the connection I had with him came back, stronger this time. Suddenly, the door burst open and Stevie Rae walked in.

"Rise and shine, sleepy-oh, shit! Sorry! I'm interrupting something, am I?" Stevie Rae said, putting a finger to her teeth.

We broke apart as if we're two teenagers that got caught doing something bad by their parents.

"Oh, you didn't. I was about to leave, anyway." He got up from his seat and said, "See you guys in the cafeteria."

"You do know it's called a dining hall and not a cafeteria, do you?" Stevie Rae said.

Before Stark left, he gave me a wink, totally ignoring what Stevie Rae had just said and left the room. I blushed again and looked down, can't help with the smile that was forming on my lips.

I got up and went to grab my clothes and head to the bathroom to take a shower but was stopped by Stevie Rae when she grabbed my arm as I was walked pass her.

"Hold up, young lady. Do I sense some romance between you and Mr. Stark?" Stevie Rae said, her lips curving up into a sly smile.

"It was called a dining hall? I've been calling it a cafeteria for the past two days! Why didn't you tell me?" I said, trying my best to change the subject. Too bad it didn't work.

"Don't try to change the subject. This conversation is not over." She let go of my arm.

I walked into the bathroom. I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror.

"Ugh, I look like crap." I mumbled to myself.

My eyes were bloodshot and huge dark circles were under them. My hair was in a complete mess. I looked like Bellatrix from Harry Potter. Okay not that messy but something like that.

I turned on the showers and let the warm water flow down my face and my body. It feels good. After 15 minutes of cleaning myself, I got out and got ready. I put on my dark blue skinnies and a white long-sleeved top that has the words, _WASSUP?, _printed in black bold capital letters. I love that shirt. It was a gift from Kayla. I brushed my hair and decided to let it down today. I applied a few strokes of mascara and that was it. I was lucky for having a clear skin. I looked at myself for the last time, wanting to be satisfied, and left the bathroom.

Stevie Rae was outside picking her clothes and I decided to wait for her so that we could leave and go to the 'dining hall' together. After about 30 minutes, we left our room. As we walked, I couldn't help but to think about the dream and nightmare I had. Could it all be true? I wanted to talk to Stevie Rae about it but I'm not quite sure. What if she thinks I'm crazy, tell the whole gang and they decided they don't want to be friends with me anymore? I don't want that to happen. I thought for about a few minutes and decided to tell her. She's my friend, my roommate. I can trust her.

"Stevie Rae, do you sense something weird about Neferet? I don't know maybe… some darkness… around her?" I said the last part softly, afraid of how she would react.

"Why? You feel them too?" Stevie Rae snapped her head up to me and her eyes were wide. She blinked and composed herself before asking me to carry on.

I told her everything. My first encounter with Nyx, the dream and nightmare I had just now. For the whole time, she kept quiet and nodded her head. When I was done, she was still quiet. She looked at me as if trying to study me. _Oh goddess, could she think that I'm crazy?_

"You should tell this to rest of the gang. We've been feeling some strange things about Neferet too." She whispered the last part, afraid that people would hear our conversation.

As we got our food and sat with our friends, I told them what I told Stevie Rae. The same as Stevie Rae, they kept quiet when I told them this information. Damien seemed to be thinking about what I had just said and Jack looked worried. Aphrodite was as usual, looking like she doesn't care but I could tell that she behind that mask, she looked worried. The Twins looked at each other; looking scared and Stark… He looked at me and gave me a small smile and mouthed the words, "Everything's okay". My face softened and I smiled back at him and mouthed back, "Thank you".

"I think we should all tell Zoey about the meeting last night. I mean, it might have a link with what she just told us. Maybe what Zoey says is true and we can really stop Neferet."

Stevie Rae said.

All of them nodded in agreement. Stevie Rae told me everything that happened in the meeting last night. Including what happened to Stark. I looked at him and he mouthed the word "Later". What I heard next sickened me. Once they were outside the door, Jack heard Neferet talking to someone about declaring a war against human and her reasons were because of the fight that took a place a few months ago between a group of human teenagers and a group of fledgings. It wasn't a big thing. It was only a couple of people. All of them were injured but one fledging died.

"Well, what about that bird man?" I decided to call the man next to Neferet in my dreams 'bird man'.

"That, we don't know and we need to figure this out sooner. I suggest we should all meet in the library tomorrow at nine A.M. since it's a Saturday and there are no classes to do some research and find out more about Zoey's dreams and what Nyx was trying to say." Damien said, putting his hands together on the table.

Everybody agreed and the bell rang, signifying the beginning of the first hour of our classes. We went in our separate ways and agreed to meet again during lunch break. Damien also told us to not think about what we were talking about just now as Neferet has the ability to read emotions and thoughts. So in order for us to not get in trouble and receive suspicious looks from Neferet, we have to refrain from thinking about it. I stepped into the room of my first class, Vampyre Sociology. Oh, how interesting. Let the one hour of torture begin.

When class ended, Neferet hold me back. I wonder why… She came to my desk and sit on the desk opposite of me.

"Zoey, I would like to say I'm sorry for not being there yesterday on your first day." She said and gave me a cheesy smile.

"It's okay, Neferet. You're the High Priestess after all. I'm sure you have some business to take care of." I said, returning her one of my fake smile.

"Have you received the Fledging Handbook 101? I was supposed to give it to you on your first day but I somehow forgot."

I shook my head. She went back to hear table in the front and returned back to me with the Fledging Handbook 101 in her hands. I said my thank you to her and left class, not wanting to be late for my favourite class, Intro to Music. When I took the book from her, my thumb touched hers and I felt darkness. I flinched and left quickly, acting as if nothing has happened. That was weird. It felt like a jolt. But not the kind of jolt that Stark and I had. It was more… Wrong. It felt uneasy.

The rest of the day went by quickly. There was a talent show coming up and all of us were required to perform. We can get into groups or do solo. Stevie Rae decided to ask me and Stark to join her and from a group as she's afraid to do solo. I agreed since I'm afraid to do solo too. The talent show is somewhere near Christmas which is in two months time. There will be a lot time to practice.

I found my love for horses in Prof. Lenobia's class. We were grooming the horses and I got a horse named Persephone. She is a chestnut horse that is gentle and calm. It calms me when I combed her mare. Lenobia told me that I had a deep connection with the horse looking at how Persephone reacts with me. That brought a smile to my face.

Once classes ended, we went back to our dorms and slept. I tried to sleep but I can't. Everytime I closed my eyes, I see Neferet's face throwing daggers at me. Believe me, she looked horrific. I decided to take a walk outside and explore the House of Night since it's still dark and there's only about 2 hours left before the sun comes up.

I went to the East side of the wall and saw Stark, sitting under a tree. What's he doing there? I walked over and sat beside him.

"Can't sleep?" I asked, looking ahead.

"Yeah. You too?"

"Yeah." I lay down and looked at the stars fill the sky. It was beautiful.

After a moment, Stark decided to join me and lay down. It was quiet and peaceful. No one said anything. We're just lost in our own world, thinking about problems. Stark broke the silence with his question.

"Have you ever heard of the vampyre William Chidsey?" And so, he told me his story that got him ruined.

_Stark's POV_

While we were lying down, I thought about my mentor who I 'killed' and I felt the pain built up in me again. I needed someone to talk to. Someone that could understand what I feel. But nobody does. Everyone's life is perfect. They never killed anyone and their family still loves them. Me? I'm completely alone. _You're not alone, my child. The answer is right next to you. _I heard Nyx's voice in my head. I looked at Zoey and admired her beauty. She looks beautiful under the black sky. Her face glows and when she met my gaze, I decided to tell her.

"Have you ever heard of the vampyre William Chidsey?" I asked, my voice low and filled with pain.

She shook her head and I told her everything. I told her that I was marked a year ago and got sent to the House of Night Chicago. I told her about how I was well known for my archery skills and that my skills comes from my affinity for extreme accuracy and potency, allowing me to never miss my target and making me lethal with a bow and arrow. I told Zoey that I accidentally killed my archery mentor with my powerful gift before I understood my power. I kept my gift a secret because I believed my gift was not good and dangerous, and I don't want the incident that happened to William repeat itself.

All the time, she was just listening to me. She did not judge me like other people do when I was in the Chicago House of Night. I told her that I moved to the Tulsa House of Night because of that incident and they were reluctant to let me go. I told her how I felt about it.

I also told her about how my family reacted when they found out I was Marked.

**-FLASHBACK-**

It was a year ago, on a Saturday, and me and my family were having a great time, picnicking in the park. Mum and dad were sitting on the bench, watching me and my two little brothers playing around. Jerry and Joe were only six then. They're twins. I was wrestling with both my brothers when a guy came forward and Marked me. Dad took Jerry and Joe away from me and said the harshest thing that he has ever said to me.

"James, you're a monster! You're a predator to our kind! Get out of here! I don't want you here anymore. From now on, you are no longer my son."

He took mum and my brothers away. I threw away my first name and wanted to be called Stark only. I began my journey into my new life alone.

**-END OF FLASHBACK-**

By the time I was done, we were both sitting up. Zoey wiped away the tears that I didn't realized were falling from my eyes. She began caressing my cheeks and I leaned into her touch.

"I guess we have another thing in common now." Then she began to tell me her story.

_Zoey's POV_

He told me everything and I listened. He told me how he accidentally killed his mentor and how the people judged him. He thinks he's a monster but, I don't. It was just an accident. He didn't mean it. He also told me how his father disowned him like how mine did. After telling me his story, I decided to tell him mine.

I told him about how my dad died and how my mum decided to marry my step-dad.

**-FLASHBACK-**

It was 12 years ago. I was only five then. The time was somewhere around eight P.M. and it was raining heavily and me and my dad were driving home from work. I followed dad to work on that day and skipped school. Me and my dad were really close. We did almost everything together. He was the one who thought me how to play the piano and the guitar.

We were playing a game when suddenly a lorry came crashing to the side of the car where he was sitting. The last thing I saw was my dad's face. His eyes were wide and scared. But his eyes also said that he was sorry. Sorry he couldn't see me grow up. Sorry he couldn't be there for me. Sorry he had to leave.

The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital and heard a woman crying. I looked around and saw that the woman was my mum. She quickly came to my side once she saw me open my eyes. The doctors said it was a miracle that I lived. My dad didn't. He died instantly.

We were all heartbroken and sad. When I turned fifteen, my mum started seeing a guy that goes by the name John. He seemed nice at first. When they got married, I got to see his true side. He brainwashed my mum and since then, she practically did whatever he says. That was how John got to disown me without my mum's permission.

**-END OF FLASHBACK-**

When I was done, I was in Stark's arm, crying for probably the hundredth time of the week. Strange because he experiences worse than me and here he is, comforting me. He's just so sweet. But what he says next made him even sweeter.

"We'll go through this together. You've got _me _like how I've got _you._"

For the rest of the day (night for human), we sat under the tree, in each other's embrace.

**That's the end of the chapter. I have to admit, it's not really my best. I seem to experience a writer's block right now. So, what do you guys think? I made it especially long for you guys. Please review and tell me. Is it good or bad? Does it suck or rock? Your reviews are what that keeps me motivated to update faster each day. So, please. REVIEW. **

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**Thank you, all of you, for reviewing. I love you guys for this! Virtual pizzas to all of you! :D Thank you, thank you, thank you. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! Til' next chapter. **


	7. Research

**I'M BACK FOR MORE! :D Wow, guys. That's quite a lot of reviews for the previous chapter although I'm not really satisfied with it. But anyway, thank you so much! :D You guys are awesomesauce! :D**

**I hope you guys will like this chapter too and don't forget to review! Haha, that rhymes! :D Thank you, seriously. I would like to give all of you a piece of virtual cake. :D REVIEW.**

**DISCLAIMER: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast owns the House of Night, characters and the settings. Any new characters or settings belong to me. The rest belongs to those two awesome mum and daughter authors. :D**

Chapter 7: Research

Everyone waited outside the library at exactly nine A.M. to get started on the research. The library was in the front center area of the school in a cool multilevel room that had been built to mimic the turret of a castle, which fit in well with the theme of the rest of the school.

"Alright, guys, let's get working. Erin, Shaunee and Stevie Rae, you'll use the computers and see if you can find any kind of information. The library is huge so the rest of us will search for books that have something to do with what we're looking for." Damien said, sounding eager to get working on the research.

"Why can't I go on the computer and do research there. I hate books." Aphrodite pouted. I am telling you, this girl gets on my nerves sometimes.

"Aphrodite, darling, you're the leader of the Dark Daughters. You should learn how to love books." Stevie Rae said. If not for her Okie accent, she will sound mean.

We all went into the library and got started. The media center was lined with row after row of books-thousands of them-but it also had a very cool, up-to-date computer lab. Just then, the media specialist came to us and asked if we need any help. I looked at her name tag. Nurwani. Ooh, nice name. She must be a fledging here at the House of Night because of the mark on her forehead. She looks no older than fifteen. Her hair is light brown and her eyes are the colours of chocolate brown. A part-time job, huh? Not bad.

"It's okay, Nurwani, but thank you. We'll look for you if we need any help." I smiled at her. She returned the smile and walked back to the desk and continued listening to her iPod. I managed to get a glance on what she's listening. _One Direction, _that boy-band from the _X-Factor._ I don't really like them but I think they're okay.

I went over the end of the room and decided to start looking from there. Jack and Damien were at the other end of the room, looking totally engrossed. Stark decided to look for the books on the shelves that was next the computers. He caught my eye and winked. I looked away and blushed.

"Girl, he must be head over heels for you." Aphrodite suddenly said next to me.

I jumped in shocked. How come I didn't notice that she's right next to me?

"Shit, Aphrodite! You scared the hell outta me." I put my right hand to where my heart is and took deep breaths.

She rolled her eyes then she turned serious. Aphrodite looked around to make sure no one was watching us and handed me a folded paper. I unfolded a paper and saw a poem written on it. _Whaaaaaaat? _I looked at Aphrodite and she rolled her eyes again. _Geez, I wonder if her eyes actually pop out if she keeps doing that_.

"I have the ability to being able to predict the future by having visions. That's why I'm the leader of the Dark Daughters." She smiled then continued. "Last night, I had a vision. A vision of someone writing this. When I was done, I was sitting on my desk with a paper in my hands. I looked at the paper and saw the poem that the lady was writing in my vision."

"How do you know it's a lady?"

"Well, guys don't have cool cursive handwriting, do they?"

"Oh, right. I see now." But one thing confuses me. "I thought you had visions that are able to predict the future. How can you be sure you're having a vision and not making any of this up when that is clearly not didn't happen in the future but it happened instantly?"

"I don't know but I'm not lying. Maybe it's a message from Nyx. Maybe this poem can help us with what we're looking for." I looked into Aphrodite eyes and could tell that she was clearly telling the truth. I decided to read the poem.

_Ancient one sleeping, waiting to arise_

_When earth's power bleed sacred red_

_The marks strikes true; Queen Tsi Sgili will devise_

_He shall be washed from his entombing bed_

_Through the hand of the dead he is free_

_Terrible beauty, monstrous sight_

_Ruled again they shall be_

_Women shall kneel to his dark might_

_Kalona's song sounds sweet_

_As we slaughter with cold heat_

I paused when I finished reading it. Something about this poem made me freaked out. What could it be? Then I remembered Nyx's words the last time I dreamed about her; he _will rise and a war will break out_. Could they be linked together? But who is Queen Tsi Sgili? Her name sounds Cherokee. Maybe I can ask Grandma Redbird about this later. I get to spend some time with her too. I looked at Aphrodite and she was freaked out as I am.

"It's freaky and scary, huh? Doesn't sound like a happy ever after story." Aphrodite said.

"Maybe we should ask Damien. He's the smartest. When we get some clues from him, we can ask Stevie Rae and the Twins to do some research online." I suggested.

We walked over to an empty table and called out the rest of the gang. Aphrodite explained her vision to the rest of them. At first, the Twins didn't believe Aphrodite. I managed to get them to believe.

"So... Damien… You're the smartest here. Do you have any clue on what the poem might mean? You don't have to figure it all out." I asked.

I handed the poem to Damien and he read it out loud, hoping it can be understandable when you hear them.

"Well when someone is killed, that person will bleed and the blood will leak to the ground. So maybe, that explains the '_When earth's power bleed sacred red_' part." We all stayed quiet, trying to take it in. I nodded my head and told him to continue.

"So this blood of whatever that is being killed can bring back someone ancient. It says it's sleeping so it means that this ancient one could be locked up and the blood is able to set this ancient one free."

"I'm guessing the second part of the poem is his appearance and his name is Kalona?" Stevie Rae asked.

"It's possible. I've heard my grandma telling me something about it when I was young. It's a Cherokee folklore. I don't know if it's true or not. Maybe I could ask my grandma again." I said.

"Alright, so we know what we need to do now. Stevie Rae and the Twins get started doing some research about Kalona and this folklore. Zoey, you call your grandma and try and get information from her. Aphrodite, you're with Zoey. Boys, let's find some books." Damn, Damien makes a great leader.

Aphrodite followed me out of the library. I passed Nurwani and she was dancing in her seat, still listening to _One Direction_. We went to a quite part and I called my grandma. Aphrodite kept a look-out, in case Neferet or any other people walked by and heard our conversation. Grandma answered on the second ring. _That was fast_.

"Oh, _u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya! _I'm glad you called. I've miss you so much. How are you doing there?"

Hearing her calling me her familiar use of Cherokee word for "daughter" made me feel loved and safe, and I suddenly wished so bad that I was with her now, in her lavender farm. I wished for her to hug me and comfort me like she used to after my mum married the douche and turned into a super-duper religious wife.

"Zoey, are you okay? Tears are in your eyes." I didn't realize I was crying until Aphrodite saw me. I wiped away my tears and began talking to grandma.

"I'm fine, grandma. Everything's great at the House of Night. I miss you too, grandma. I wish I was there with you." I said softly, wanting to feel my grandma's hug badly.

"Oh, Zoeybird. We will meet soon, _u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. _What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" She always knows when I am in need of her help.

I stared telling her about Aphrodite and her visions, the poem she wrote and the clues that Damien told us. It took about fifteen minutes. When I was done, she wanted me to read her the poem and so I did. When I mentioned _Queen Tsi Sgili, _she gasped.

"Grandma, is everything okay?"

"Just keep reading, Zoeybird."

I kept reading and when it comes to the end, she gasped again. Louder this time. This is freaking me out.

"Grandma, what is it?" I cried.

"This sounds bad, Zoey." She called me by my name instead of my nickname. The only time she uses that is when she's being serious. This _is _bad.

"What sounds bad?" I am totally freaked out. Aphrodite looked freaked out too. Her eyes were wider and her face turned pale.

"Hold on, grandma. I'm gonna put you on speaker. It's me and Aphrodite here." I pressed the speaker button.

"Aphrodite and me," she automatically corrected me. I just rolled my eyes.

"It's a Cherokee legend. My mother used to tell me stories about this all the time when I was young." I imagine her smiling when she said that. "It was a long, long, long time ago. Kalona was said to be a fallen angel. There were many versions of how he fell. Most people believed that Nyx banished him although I don't know why. When an angel falls, they become a demon. He claimed to be Erebus, Nyx's mate." She paused and sighs then continued. "He took over the town. He raped and abused women and the men became his slaves. As you all know, there was no protection back then. Since Kalona is immortal, the babies were also immortal terrible creatures. They were called the Raven Mockers. They were ravens, with eyes and limbs of man."

"The raven mockers…" I whispered to myself. Then, images of my previous dream flashed across my eyes. Neferet and the birdman with the ravens at the back.

"So then the women decide they've grown sick of the raping. They built a clay stone statue of the most beautifully gorgeous women they could make called A-ya and brought her to life with elements or earth, water, air and fire. Kalona had to have her and what basically ends the story is that A-ya freezes Kalona in her arms and they are hidden somewhere inside the earth."

When grandma was done, I freaked out even more. All of this is making sense. But what about the Queen Tsi Sgili? I voiced my thoughts out to grandma.

"Tsi Sgili are Cherokee witches, only do not deceived by the title 'witch'. They do not follow the peaceful, beautiful ways of Wicca. Nor are they the wise priestesses you know and respect who serve Nyx. A Tsi Sgili lives as an outcast, separate from the tribe. They are evil. They delight in killing; they revel in death. They have magical powers granted through the fear and pain of their victims. They feed on death. They can torture and kill with the _ane li sgi_.

"What does that mean?" Aphrodite was by my side, paying attention to whatever grandma was saying.

"It means they are powerful psychics and can kill with their minds."

Aphrodite looked up at me. Her face tells me she knew something but she's not quite sure. Before I can ask her, she asked my grandma something.

"So who is this queen? Is Kalona one of them?" Aphrodite asked.

"No, Kalona is much worse. The Tsi Sgili are evil and dangerous, but they are human and can be dealt with as any human can."

"Thanks, grandma. It really means a lot." I said, still shocked with what we were just being told.

"You're welcome, _u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya_." With that my grandma hung up.

I looked at Aphrodite. She knew something. She was trying to hide it from me. Aphrodite bit her lip and started fidgeting with her hands. I decided to ask her. If she knew something, she better tell us. It might help with the poem and my dreams.

"Aphrodite, you know something. What is it?" Her head snapped up and she looked at me. She looked as if she wasn't sure.

"Aphrodite, what is it? Whatever you know may help us too, you know." I asked her again.

"It's just that, Neferet is a powerful psychic," she whispered, "she can read minds and stuffs." My brain starts clicking.

"And we've been feeling something strange about her. Are you trying to say what I think you're trying to say?" She nodded her head.

We went back into the library and told the gang this new piece of information. Before that, we asked them about their research.

"I googled Kalona and it leaded to raven mockers and some Cherokee legends." Stevie Rae said from her seat.

"We tried googling _Queen Tsi Sgili,_" Erin said,"but we can't find anything." Shaunee continued. "All we know is that it has something to do with Cherokee legends and raven mockers." They said together.

"Since it leads to Cherokee legends, we searched for books that have Cherokee legends in it. They were many and it says a few about Kalona and the raven mockers but none about the Queen Tsi Sgili." Damien said.

"Why? You guys found out anything?" Stark asked.

I looked at Aphrodite and our eyes met. I nodded at her, asking if we should tell them about Neferet too. She sighed and thought for awhile before nodding her head. We went to the quiet part of the library and explained everything. When it comes to the part about Neferet, Aphrodite explained it to them. She kept her voice low, scared that people might here. This piece of information _is _top secret, anyway.

"So what you're trying to say is that Neferet is the Queen Tsi Sgili and she is trying to bring back Kalona?" Jack whispered.

Aphrodite and I nodded our heads. "But why?" Stark asked.

"Duh! She wanted to declare war on humans, that's why!"

"But if couldn't be because a fledging got killed that she wanted to declare war on human, right?" Stark continued.

"He's right. Something must have happened to make Neferet declare this war, something that has a huge impact on her." Aphrodite said.

I looked at the time. It was two in the afternoon. _We've been here that long? _I thought. Stark must have read my expression because he ended the 'meeting' and we decided continue this next time. I walked out of the library and my stomach grumbled. Stark, who suddenly happened to be right beside me, heard it and laughed. I smacked him in the arms and he stopped.

"Want to go get some lunch?" Before I could answer, he answered for me. "Nah, don't answer that. It's quite obvious you're hungry." He grabbed my hand and brought me to the cafeteria. I prefer calling it a cafeteria because it looks like one instead of a dining hall.

"Hey, where're you guys going?" Stevie Rae asked before we left.

"We're gonna go and grab some lunch. Wanna come with?" Stark asked.

"Yeah, sure. I haven't eaten breakfast yet and it's already lunch." Jack said and his stomach started grumbling.

We all laughed and headed to the cafeteria. Everything seemed peaceful and happy. We're not thinking about all the problems we're facing. We're just letting it go and have some fun, joking around with each other and eating. For the whole day, I forgot about what we have just learned in the library just now.

**Uh, this is not my best chapter. And it's kinda short. Anyway, I hope you guys still like it and please review and tell me what you think. Please, it'll mean a lot to me. Thanks! :D**

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**All of you people are awesome readers. I'm gonna go grab some food. I'm freaking starving. Til' next chapter! :D**


	8. Aphrodite's Vision

**Hey, people! I read my previous chapter and realized that I have a few grammar mistakes. I'm sorry about that. I'll check thoroughly before posting it up here. I also think that I'm moving too fast with the previous chapter, don't you think so? Anyway, I'm still gonna continue and I guess this would be my first lesson learned here. LOL. Anyway, I would like to thank all of you for reviewing my previous chapter. It really means a lot to me and it has motivated me to continue further with my first story. So thank you so much, you guys! YOU PEOPLE OUT THERE ROCK. :D**

**So stopping with the rant, I hope you guys like this chapter and don't forget to review! :D**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm tired of writing the same thing over and over again. Read my previous chapters to know that I don't own the House of Night. Wait, I just said that I don't own the House of Night…**

Chapter 8: Aphrodite's Vision

It has been a week since we discovered about the poem and Neferet's plan to bring back the deadly Kalona. Ever since then, we have been keeping an eye on Neferet to find any clues or signs that she could be _Queen Tsi Sgili_. So far, she still seemed normal and looked like Neferet, the High Priestess instead of Neferet, _Queen Tsi Sgili_.

Talent show is in a month now and Stevie Rae, Stark and I have been meeting up and began practicing together. We decided to practice in my and Stevie Rae's dorm since the boys' dorms are always noisy unlike we, girls, which can cause us to lose our concentration and we don't want that if we want to win, do we? Stevie Rae got to pick the song since she will be the one that will be singing. Stark and I will just be playing the guitar. Once, we fought (not really, it was Stark and Stevie Rae) because Stevie Rae chose a song that Stark refuses to play as he thinks it is 'too girly' and it 'would ruin his reputation'. The song that Stevie Rae chose to do was _Adele's_ _Lovesong_. I managed to get him to do the song too by saying to him that the song was originally by _The Cure_ and they were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world. I was kinda hurt when he said _Lovesong _is a 'too girly' song because _The Cure_ is one my favourite bands. I mean, come on! It's _The Cure_, for crying out loud!

So right now, we were having lunch in the so-called cafeteria and all of them were talking about a ritual they were going to do in a few days. Since Stark, Jack and I have no part in this, we chatted about movies and Jack was a huge fan of Twilight and I mean _huge_.

"What? How could you like Twilight? That movie is _the _most depressing movie I have ever seen!" (**A/N: Sorry, Twihards! I didn't mean to offend you here!)**

We were going on and on about the movie. Stark was on my side. Yay! Apparently, Jack watched the movie to only look at Jacob's hotness, how romantic Edward is (really?) and to get jealous of Bella because two boys are after her. I have to agree with the Bella part. I mean, who would go that far to get a girl? We were having fun talking and fighting when Aphrodite said something that got me choking on my apple juice and Stark had to pat my back.

"I think Zoey should join the Dark Daughters in our private Full Moon Ritual." She looked at me and continued, "I mean, your Mark has clearly shown that you're different. Nyx wouldn't give you a filled in Mark for no reason, right? Besides, it'll be fun!" She was too excited about this. Too excited that got the rest to agree with her idea of inviting me to join them for a ritual.

"B-b-but I know nothing of this!" I said after I calmed down from my choking of the apple juice.

"We'll help you with it. We're in the ritual too! You've got us, Z!" Damien said, forming a new nickname for me. Wow, that makes it three then.

After much persuasion, I agreed to join them in their Full Moon Ritual. This got the Twins excited. _Oh, what now? _I thought.

"We should go shopping and get you a dress for the ritual," Erin said. Before I could decline the offer, Shaunee continued for her. "And trust me; you have got nothing to nice and sexy to wear for the ritual."

"How'd you guys know…? Wait a minute, did you see my closet?" I asked, sounding pissed. Who wouldn't get pissed when someone takes a look at your closet to find out what kind of clothing you wear without your permission?

"But, Zoey, it is true! I mean, who keeps a sweater that looks like it's been bought from a charity?" _Ouch._

"My grandma sewn that for me and I happen to love it, thank you very much!" I said, sounding like a five-year-old girl.

"Fine… We'll go shopping and get me a dress for the ritual." The Twins squealed in delight. Just like Aphrodite, they get on my nerves sometimes too.

We decided to go shopping during lunch break tomorrow. Aphrodite and Neferet made a deal. If we don't come back to continue with our classes, all of us will not be able to go shopping for the next month.

On my way to Spanish class, I bumped into a wall but I don't think a wall has a soft clothing material on them. I looked up and saw that I bumped into Erik. This would be a good time to start apologizing to him for flaring at him the other time.

"Oh, Erik, it's just you. I thought I bumped into a wall." I face-palmed myself mentally.

"A wall? Well I guess my work-out sessions paid off pretty well, then." He said with a grin on his face.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah, totally."

It was quiet between the two of us for a moment but I decided to break it and start apologizing.

"Look, Erik… I'm sorry for getting mad at you. Looking back, it was actually stupid to go mad at someone just because they asked about your Mark…"

"Nah, it's okay. I understand. You're just tired of all the unwanted attention you get just because your Mark is different than the other fledgings and you're not even changed yet."

After I'm done with my apologizing, I walked into my Spanish class. We were learning about their culture. I zoned out halfway through the class and just waited impatiently for the lesson to end.

When I was walking back to my room, I bumped into someone. Again. This time, it was Neferet who I bumped into.

"Neferet! I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!" I said.

"Oh, it's okay. Zoey, I heard you're in the Full Moon Ritual?" It sounded a lot like a question.

"Yeah, I guess." Neferet gave me a questioning look. "Aphrodite invited me. I didn't want to at first but you know her. She can be very persuasive." I laughed nervously at the end.

Neferet laughed too but it was more like she was forced too. "Ah, Aphrodite. If I were you, I'd be worried about her by now." She gave me a look that says she's up to something evil and left. I watched her leave and my phone vibrated. It was a text from Stevie Rae.

_Go to Aphrodite's room. NOW!_

Without wasting any more time, I ran to her room. I broke the record! I was doing a victory dance inside but stopped when I saw the situation in Aphrodite's room. The whole gang was there with worried looks on their faces. I looked at Stark and he just shrugged his shoulders. I saw the Twins and Stevie Rae crowd around Aphrodite and walked over to them.

"What happened to Aphrodite?" She looked pale as in really, really pale. Sweats forming on her forehead and she was shivering badly. Her lips were really white! Stevie Rae was busy comforting her so Erin decided to tell me.

"She had a vision. The three of us were with her discussing about our shopping trip tomorrow. She wouldn't tell us what the vision was about. She started becoming like this."

I looked back at Aphrodite and got even more worried.

"Maybe we should call for Neferet for help. She's a healer. I'm sure she could heal her." Jack suggested.

At the mention of Neferet's name, I remembered her words in my head; _Ah, Aphrodite. If I were you, I'd be worried about her by now._

"No, don't! She's involved in this!" I said quickly before Damien went out to get her.

"What do you mean, Zoey?" Stark asked.

"Before I got Stevie Rae's text, I was with Neferet. She said something about being worried about Aphrodite and left. After about one second, I got your text." I looked at Stevie Rae.

"ZOEY! KALONA! ZOEY! KALONA! ZOEY!" Aphrodite began saying me and Kalona's name over and over again. _What's happening?_

"Shh, shh, Aphrodite. It's just a vision. Whatever you saw won't happen. It's just a vision." Stevie Rae calmed Aphrodite. Aphrodite closed her eyes slowly and drifted to sleep. Stevie Rae tucked her in and we all headed to me and Stevie Rae's room.

"Why does she keep saying me and Kalona's name over and over again?" I asked, panicked, once we reached our room.

Stark put his hand over my shoulder and began my rubbing my forearm, in attempt to comfort me. It worked but I was still panicked.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll ask her tomorrow once she's all fine and calmed down from that vision." Stevie Rae said, her hand on her hip and her other one brushing her hair back from her face. She sighed. She's as panicked as I am.

We all agreed to what Stevie Rae just said and decided to get some sleep. Stevie Rae was too panicked so I ushered the boys out. Stark was the last one to leave and before he left, he pulled me into a hug. I responded after a few seconds and hugged him back.

"We'll figure all of this out." He whispered into my ears, still hugging me. I just nodded my head, not being able to say anything. I hugged him tighter. Aphrodite has a vision about me and Kalona. I don't think it'll be a good one. How can anyone not get scared and panicked? He squeezed me before letting me go and left.

I shut the door and found Stevie Rae sleeping on her bed. I don't think she's sleeping at all, I think she's just closing her eyes and trying to calm down. Her back was facing me which proves my point. I sighed, still standing at the door and whispered, "Don't worry, Stevie Rae. We'll figure all of this out." I went for a quick shower and got ready for bed.

The next day when we were having breakfast, we received the shock of our lives. We saw Aphrodite walking into the cafeteria with one of the Son of Erebus by her side. I think his name was Darius. Not only was he by her side, they were linking hands! How can Aphrodite get back to her bitchy self after what happened last night?

I looked around the table and I bet all of them were having the same thinking as I am. Aphrodite spotted us and walked to our table with Darius still by her side. When she reached our table, she whispered something into his ear and he left. I could see his eyes were wide and his face turned red. I think it was more than something.

"Uh, Aphrodite? How can you be all like this," I waved my hands in front of her, "when you had a bad vision last night?" I asked.

"Vision? What vision?"

"Seriously? Don't play dumb. You know what I'm talking about." I said, clearly irritated.

"Ohhh… You mean _that _vision." She said while she opened a bottle of orange juice.

"It was nothing. Just a prank for you guys!" Then she started laughing like a crazy woman. "You should have seen your faces! Oh, goddess! I wish I had a camera with me at that time!" Then she continued laughing again.

We all stared at her. This isn't like her. She doesn't pull the greatest pranks! I have to admit. If that was a prank, it was good. _Real _good. We stared at her for a moment, looked at each other and broke into laughter. By now, the whole cafeteria looked at us like _we _were the crazy ones.

"That… was _such_ a good prank, Aphrodite!" Damien said in between fits of laughter.

We laughed for a good five minutes and head to class. When it was lunch break, we all went to the nearest shopping mall and got shopping for the ritual which will be in two days. I still feel quite nervous. It's my first ritual. We rode in Aphrodite's SUV. She, being wealthy, owns a lot of cars. I was starting to get worried about her. At times, she would look scared and worried and at other times, she goes all happy and excited and stuff. I should probably ask her about that later and I'm guessing it has got to do with the vision she had yesterday.

We got out of the car once Stark drove into the shopping mall's parking lot and parked there. He parked at the far end corner. The parking lot was crowded too, anyways. We went in and got greeted by lots and lots of shop. The shopping mall was huge! It stretches from one corner to the other and is four-stories high. I've been living here for seventeen years and I have not, once, entered this building.

The boys went to the other shops while we, girls, went to look for my dress which is highly understandable as I don't think they would want to look for dresses at all. The moment we stepped into our first shop, the Twins and Aphrodite squealed while I gasped in total awe. I heard Stevie Rae say something like, 'Sweet mama!'. We were surrounded by thousands of dresses! The store was super huge and it felt like we're entering heaven. Erin pulled my hand and ran into the store to get started searching for my dress for the ritual.

I put on my fourth dress, hoping that they would think it's 'the one' and get done with this. Much to my dismay, I still had to try another dress. Stevie Rae got to pick this time. I heard her squealed at the other side of the store and decided to turn and face her. She was holding a black dress and when her eyes came in contact with mine, her smile turned into a huge grin and she came running towards me with the dress in her hands.

"Here!" She handed me the dress and pushed me into the dressing room. "Put it on! Put it on! Hurry!"

I went into the dressing room for probably the fifth time and got changing. I got out from my outfit, which was just my dark gray skinny jeans, a long-sleeved black top and my favourite hoodie. I put on my dress and took a look at myself before I show it to the rest of the girls. To my surprise, I look good in this dress. The material was the soft clingy stuff that never wrinkles. It had long sleeves and a round neckline that showed most of my shoulders. All around the neckline, the edge of the long sleeves, and the hem, which was right above my knee, were sewn little red sparkly beads. I didn't know Stevie Rae had a great fashion sense. I stared at the dress longer until I heard Aphrodite's voice.

"Zoey, are you done? I'll be ancient by the time you walk through those doors!" Damn, she's pissed. Not a good sign.

I walked out of the dressing room and received a few gasped from my friends. Stark, Jack and Damien happened to be there too. Jack was jumping up and down, clapping his hands. I take that as a good thing. Damien showed a thumbs-up and winked at me. My smile grew even wider. Stark's jaw was open it literally touched the ground. His eyes were wide but not in shock. I take that as another good sign. Aphrodite held a smirk at her mouth while the Twins put their hands together and smiled widely. Stevie Rae gave me two thumbs-up and shook her hips while giving me a look that says, 'Awwww yeah'.

"ZOEY!" Erin shouted. "You _need_ to get that dress!" Shaunee continued.

I looked at the price tag and got disappointed. The cost of the dress is way over my budget. Aphrodite seemed to realize this as she decided to get the dress for me. I had to admit I was totally shocked and surprised. Aphrodite is actually being kind and bought me the dress!

After we got my dress, we decided to get some lunch since we still have a few more time left and we haven't eaten lunch. We went to _Texas Chicken _and I followed Aphrodite to order our food. While we were queuing, a boy with soft medium blonde curly hair and dark brown eyes caught my attention. He was with a girl but not any ordinary girl. Heath was with my best friend, Kayla. I used to date Heath before I was Marked. We were in a complicated relationship because he keeps getting drunk and wasted which totally pissed me off. A month before I was Marked, I dumped him. And here he is, with my best friend. No wait, scratch that. Heath was with my _ex_-best friend.

"You know him, don't you?" Aphrodite said by my side.

"Heath." The moment I whispered his name, he snapped up his head and looked at me. His eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open. Kayla was the next to look at me. Her reaction was worse than Heath. Instead of being shocked like him, her face turned angry. She dragged him out of the shop with him still looking shocked at what he just saw. That would probably be the last time I'll see them. I felt tears in my eyes but it didn't flow out. It just stayed there.

"You should probably forget about them. It's your new life, Zoey. You don't want more hates and problems, do you?" Aphrodite said again.

I blinked back the tears, composed myself and ordered the food. I walked back to the table to see all of my friends laughing about a joke. I sat next to Stark and began eating. They must've notice how quiet I've been because they started bombarding me with questions.

"You guys, just let it go! She's having a hard time and you're trying to make it worse!" Aphrodite said in her 'don't mess with me' tone. I smiled at her, thanking her and was surprised when she smiled back sweetly at me. I guess this is what she meant when Stevie Rae mentioned the good side of her.

I suddenly had a feeling to vomit and ran for the toilet. I went into one of the cubicles and began puking it all out. I felt someone pulling my hair back from my face and comforting me. I wiped my mouth with the tissue that was given to me. When I was done, I saw it was Aphrodite.

"Aphrodite, why are you suddenly so kind?"

"What? Can't I be a good girl sometimes?" I knew there was more to that so that I just kept staring at her.

"Okay, fine! You got me." I smiled, knowing that I won. "It's about the vision last night." She said softly. So all these while when she said it was just a prank was an act? I nodded at her, encouraging her to move on.

"It was horrible! I saw you and Kalona being all lovey-dovey to each other. He was flirting with you and you really, really liked it."

"Hold on! Kalona's a monster. Why would I like it when he flirts with me?"

"Because I saw the vision through your eyes! Which means I can feel what you feel! And what you felt at that time was freaking scary and disgusting!"

"What? What was I feeling?"

"You felt as if you love Kalona as in _love_ love. And your thoughts… ugh." Aphrodite turned pale and shivered.

"What about my thoughts?"

"You were… You were thinking about getting revenge on humans." She said the last part softly.

I put my hand to my mouth, totally shocked and scared. Me? Getting revenge on humans? Why would I do such a thing? It has to be a mistake. It _has_ to be.

"But, don't worry. It was just a vision. Sometimes it doesn't come true." Aphrodite said, trying to lighten up the mood.

Just then Stevie Rae walked in and when she saw what happened, she gasped and turned into the mother mode. You know, when she gets all worried and acts like a mum and stuff.

"Zoey! What happened? Are you okay?" Then she looked at Aphrodite. "Is it because of Aphrodite?"

"Hey! I'm right over here, you know!" Aphrodite exclaimed.

"Guys! Guys! Chill! Stevie Rae, I am perfectly fine and no, it's not because of Aphrodite." I said calmly.

"Well then, why are you by the toilet bowl?"

"It must be the food that causes me to vomit." I said.

I assured Stevie Rae that I am fine and cleaned myself up at the sink. After that, we left the place and got back to the House of Night to continue with our classes. We got there five minutes before the next class starts. We got some drinks in the cafeteria and as we walked out the door, the most amazing thing happened.

The hottest guy walked past us. He is incredibly handsome, even for a vampyre, being over six feet tall. His tattoo is a spectacular design of lightning bolt. He looks somewhere in the middle twenties. We stood there, just staring and admiring him. Except for Stark, he looked annoyed and… jealous? What was that about? Shaunee was fanning herself with her hand, Erin was doing the same, Aphrodite was starting to turn into her bitchy mode and I was there just standing with my mouth and eyes open wide. Stevie Rae looked as if she didn't think he was hot. What is up with her? I mean, he looks like a _sexgod_!

Neferet was beside him and she was smirking in our way. I wonder what's up with that. The hot guy caught my eye and he winked at me. _Holy crap, he just winked at me!_ My inner five-year old starts screaming and dancing. Neferet began to speak and her voice was so loud she doesn't have to use a microphone.

"Attention, all fledgings. This is Professor Loren Blake. He is a Poet Laureate and a temporary professor here at the Tulsa House of Night."

**Ta-da! Did you guys like it? I hope you do! Remember to tell me what you think so that I can make some improvements in the story! REVIEW! :D**

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	9. The Ritual

**I just changed the summary. Uh, I just suck at writing summaries. **

**I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting but wait no more! The next chapter is here! I feel so happy that the reviews for my story reached more than 50 reviews! That is just amazing! :D So this story starts off with Neferet's POV then followed by Zoey's. You know, just to get in the mind of Neferet behind her little act. **

**I want to thank iluvstark for adding my story to her Favourites and I would also like to thank daisyjan10 for adding my story to her Favourites and also to her Story Alert subscription. Thanks, you guys, so much. This really means a lot to me. Also, thanks to all of you who reviewed my story. **

**Moving on, read on and don't forget to review. Each review motivates me to update faster. **

**DISCLAIMER: Dear readers, I would like to gladly inform you that the characters and the settings of the House of Night belong to the fantastic authors, P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. Any other new information added to this story belongs to me, including this plot. Thank you.**

Chapter 9: The Ritual

_Neferet's POV_

"If you agree to this, I can guarantee you that you will have the life you have before everything fell apart. Trust me." I tried coaxing this man into being a part of my plan. He seems to be the only perfect one to carry out the plan that I have been waiting to happen ever since _that day_. If he does not agree, I have to kill him because I basically told him the whole of my plan and I don't want any disturbance when I carry out the plan. But I don't think he will decline my offer since I can have my own weapon.

"But… How? I don't even know if I can do this." Loren answered. Loren Blake was a Vampyre Poet Laureate before something terrible happened and he ended up losing his position of a Poet Laureate and all of his property. He used to teach at the Georgia House of Night. Even though he lost his job, the High Priestess allowed him to stay there since she knows that he couldn't survive in the outside world in a state like this, but he is being treated terribly for his crime. I decided to help him and in return, _he _will help _me_.

I placed my hand on his knee and moved my finger in a circular motion on his knee. I heard him took an intake of breath and smirked at that. I decided that flirting would help him make up his mind faster. I moved in closer to him, half of my body lying against him and whispered seductively into his ear while he just stayed in his position.

"You do want your life back, do you?" He just nodded his head, unable to speak. I smirked again.

"I promise… I can give it back to you. _All of it._" I moved my face closer to his neck and kissed it softly before moving away from him. When he still didn't respond, I decided to go further. I'll do what it takes to get what I want. I leaned in and started kissing him.

I wasn't surprise he kissed me back. Besides, he is incredibly handsome for a vampyre and his tattoo, which is a spectacular design of lightning bolts, added more to it. I pulled away from the kiss and pushed him down on the couch and smacked my lips on his again. Right now, his back was on the couch and I was hovering over him. _This is going to be fun. _I thought. The kiss slowly deepened and I intertwined one of my hands in his hair while the other one snaked its way around his neck, pulling him closer to me. I could feel his hands snaking into my shirt, one hand moving around my back and the other one hugging my waist tightly.

Soon, he asked for an entrance into my mouth which I gladly offered and our tongues were fighting for dominance. Not wanting to go any further because this was just to tease him and I needed my answer, I pulled away from him and sat up. He followed suit and I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and asked him again, with more confidence this time.

"So… You still up for it?" He nodded his head instantly. I smiled widely and began telling him the plan all over again. Once I was done, I decided to tease him again. I kissed him again and before the kiss deepens, I pulled away for his lips and gave him a flirtatious wink.

"We're going to the Tulsa House of Night so get your things ready. You are going to be a teacher." He smiled widely and his eyes shone when I told him he was going to be a teacher at my House of Night.

He changed his clothes, which consists of black jeans and a black shirt. He packed his things into his duffel bag and in an hour, we were ready to leave.

Once we reached there, it was lunch time. I remembered that Aphrodite and her friends will be going shopping for the ritual which will be held in two days. Zoey will be in it. I certainly hope that she will screw it up. Just imagine the look on her face and the embarrassment she cause to herself. I scoffed at that thought.

When we entered the dining hall, Zoey and her other friends were about to leave. I guess they came back from the shopping trip already. I looked at the time and there's only five minutes left before the next class begins. It's good that they're already here. I don't have to go through the trouble to introduce Loren for the second time to them.

The look on Zoey's face was priceless. She was drooling over him. _Perfect_. I thought. This just made my job much easier to be done. Actually, all of the girls in the cafeteria were drooling over him like he is some _sex god_, even those two gays. Ugh, they just disgust me. Seeing them together, being all lovey-dovey just makes me want to puke my guts out. I smirked in their way while giving all of them a look of pure hatred and total disgust. They think I'm all kind and incredible. Little did they know…

I grabbed Loren's arm and pulled him to the center of the dining hall to make an announcement. By now, the dining hall was totally quiet; you could hear the crickets making sounds.

"Attention, all fledglings. This is Professor Loren Blake. He is a Poet Laureate and a temporary professor here at the Tulsa House of Night." My voice was loud enough that I don't need a microphone to make an announcement.

Once the announcement was made, I gestured Loren to follow me out of the dining hall so that I could have him fill in the forms and make arrangements for him to stay in the House of Night. We walked into my office and I sat on my seat behind the desk. Loren did the same, except that he was sitting on the seat opposite of me and not with me. I turned my computer on and began to type away the things that needed to be typed out while I gave him the forms that he needed to fill in. Once he was done filling in the form, I printed out his schedule and gave it to him. Then I gave him his room key. Like all of the other professors, he will have his own room.

"You know the plan. I want it done by the day the ritual is held, preferably after the ritual. Understood?" He nodded his head and left my office without saying anything, the bell ringing at the same time, signifying the start of the next class.

_Zoey's POV_

_The dream began with the sound of birds chirping and the rustling of trees and bushes. I was standing in the middle of a beautiful meadow. The sun was shining brightly and I suddenly miss the feeling of being under the sun. Stevie Rae said that we could still be under the sun but we won't feel comfortable at all so we only leave in the evening, once the sun begins to set._

_I looked down to see what I was wearing. I was wearing a white dress that goes just above my knees. It was decorated with fringe, feathers, and shells. All over it beaded with intricate designs that were impossibly beautiful._

_I heard a man's voice within the massive trees, followed by a woman's voice. The odd this is that the woman's voice sounded like… me. I followed the voice and it led me to the edge of a meadow. I hid behind one of the trees so that they couldn't spot me spying on them. Just because this is a dream doesn't mean that I shouldn't be careful. _

_The woman's back was facing me. She was wearing a black dress that goes all the way to the ground. She looked sexy. The top of it was cut in a wide V at the back, I didn't know about the front, leaving lots of skin visible. The man looked familiar._

"_Where have I seen him before?" I asked myself quietly._

_That is when it hit me. He was the bird man in my nightmare after my encounter with Nyx. Could he be the Kalona guy? I suddenly felt scared but what happened next made me even more scared. Bird man turned the woman around so now, she was facing me. I gasped in shock. That woman was me. And she looked happy, really happy. She was smiling and laughing and flirting with that bird man._

_I moved closer, still being careful to make sure that I was not being caught by them. I decided to eavesdrop on their conversation._

"_But, A-ya, we could take control of the world together. Just you and me!" Bird man said while cupping her face in his hands._

_A-ya… A-ya had been the name of the maiden the Cherokee Wise Women had created to trap him centuries ago. Panic spiked through me. _

_No, this isn't possible. I am not A-ya. A-ya isn't me!_

"_Being with you is what I've always dreamed off but…" The woman who looked like me that bird man claimed her to be A-ya said and put her head down._

"_But what is it, my love?" Bird man brought her face up to him again._

"_I couldn't bear to see the humans being in such pain and torture." She said._

_Bird man brought his lips to hers and they began kissing. They looked so in love. But I wouldn't be in love with him. This isn't possible. I ran away from both of them. I ran as far as I could. I ran so fast that I wasn't oblivious to the things surrounding me and I tripped over something and fell. Then everything faded to black._

"Zoey! ZO! Wake up, it's just a dream! Wake up!" I opened my eyes and saw Stevie Rae hovering over me, shaking my shoulders. I looked around me and I realized that I was in our room. I heaved a sigh of relief. _It was just a dream. It was just a dream._

"Zoey, are you okay? You screamed and I saw you thrashing your hands around when I woke up." Stevie Rae's voice was filled with worry. It must have been that bad that Stevie Rae was this worried and scared for me.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." I sat up on my bed and moved to the edge of it. I rested my elbows on my knees and brought my face to my hands. I took deep breaths.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Stevie Rae said beside me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

I brought my face up from my hands and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, Stevie Rae. Thanks for worrying for me, though." I gave her a hug and she hugged me back tightly, so tight that I couldn't breathe.

"Uh, Stevie Rae? Can't… Breathe…" I managed to choke out.

After she realizes what she was doing, she quickly pulled away from the hug.

"Oh, shit. Sorry." She laughed nervously and gave me a sheepishly smile. "It's just that I was so worried about you and I didn't want anything bad to happen to you but looking at what happened just now, it was really scary which really freaked me out and you're my best friend…" She began ranting when I cut her off.

"_I'm _your best friend?" I asked, a smile forming on my lips.

"Yeah, I guess so." I tackled her in another hug and grinned.

"Thank you." I said to her, still hugging her.

I am so happy right now. My ex-best friend hated me and my step-dad doesn't want any part of me and having someone think of me as her best friend made me feel better. Stevie Rae pulled away from the hug and gave me a smile.

"Well, we better get ready. This month's parent visit will start in two hours."

_Well, hell._

We made our way into the reception hall where our parents will visit us. I actually couldn't be bothered with this thing as I knew step-dad wouldn't allow mum and Roby to come and visit me. I'm not sure about Grandma Redbird, though. I hope she would come. I missed her so much and I just want her to comfort me with her presence.

The reception hall was starting to fill up with human parents that looked uncomfortable, some human siblings, a bunch of fledging students and several of our professors. Stevie Rae grabbed my hand and ran over to a woman that looked so much like Stevie Rae. I'm guessing that that is her mum.

"Mama! This is my roommate that I told you about! Remember?"

Mrs. Johnson looked at me and gave me a warm smile. "Ah, I remember. You are Zoey Redbird." Then she did something that was totally unexpected; she pulled me into a hug. I squeezed her back.

"It's great to meet you, Mrs. Johnson." I said after she pulled away from the hug.

"It's just so nice to meet you too! _Oh, my._ Your mark is even prettier than how Stevie Rae would describe." Stevie Rae broke into a grin. She looked like a five-year-old who made their parents proud. I laughed softly at her expression. Just before I could say anything, I heard the greatest voice in the world.

"Zoey!" I knew that voice anywhere I went. I turned around and I was right.

"_Oh, gosh!_ Roby?" I shouted. He came running towards me and I shouted his name again. I enfolded my six-year-old brother in my arms and held him dearly. I smiled through my tears. I pulled him away so that I could face him and kiss him all over the face. He laughed and tried to escape from my kissing.

"Zoey! I missed you so much! Why did you leave?" He looked so darn cute! My smile faltered when I couldn't give him the answer to his question.

"Zoey."

I looked up and saw my mum standing beside my grandma. I got up to hug my mum then my grandma.

"Mum, I missed you so much!" I hugged her so tight like my life depends on it. Then I hugged my grandma.

"Oh, Zoeybird!" She held tight to me. "I have missed you, _u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya._"

"I've missed you too, grandma. I'm so glad you guys came!" I carried Roby into my arms.

"Where's John?" I asked after realizing that he was nowhere to be seen. Wouldn't they be punished for coming here? Unless…

"You guys came here without his permission?" I was mad. Mad at them for going through the trouble to come here without his permission, knowing that he will be extremely angry with this. I was going to scold them for doing this but they were saved by the voice of Mrs. Johnson.

"Ah, you must be Zoey's family. You have a fine girl, here." Mrs. Johnson said while patting my back.

"Mum, grandma, Roby, this is my best friend/roommate, Stevie Rae and her mum, Mrs. Johnson. Mrs. Johnson, Stevie Rae, this is my grandma, Sylvia Redbird, my mum, Linda Heffer and my younger brother, Roby Heffer." You must be wondering why my last name isn't the same as my mum and brother. You see, when my mum got married to the douche, John, I didn't want my last name to be his so I changed it to my grandma's last name.

"Hi, Stevie Rae and Mrs. Johnson. Stevie Rae is so pretty." We all laughed when he said that.

"Aw, aren't you such a cutie?" Stevie Rae said while tapping a finger on his nose.

For the next hour, we talked non-stop about our lives. It was fun and amazing, actually. It actually felt like all of us are one big family.

"I'm sorry, I would love to chat longer with both of you but we must leave." My mum said. When she said that, my heart fell into my stomach. I wish we had a longer time but they left without John. They _must _leave.

"It's alright. It was such a pleasure meeting you and your family, Zoey." My mum and grandma gave Stevie Rae and Mrs. Johnson a hug. Roby gave a kiss on the cheek to Stevie Rae. He is just too adorable.

"Come on, I'll walk you guys to the front." I'm so sad that this had to end.

Once we reached the entrance, the nightmare came. In front of us, a few meters away, stood John. Both of his hands by his side and boy, did he look pissed.

"Linda! Roby! Mother! What do you think you're doing in this place? You're not allowed to!"

"Don't you call me your mother." Grandma said and I tried to stifle a laugh.

They walked to John but Roby didn't want to let go of me. He was hugging my leg, not letting go. That brought tears to my eyes.

"Roby! Get over here now!" John, the douche, said.

I bend down and cupped Roby's face. "Roby, you need to leave. Mummy and daddy needs you there. I'll be fine here." I said, my voice cracking because of my tears and sobs.

"But I don't want to go to John! He's mean and bad! He sucks!" He crossed his arms and pouted. I smiled.

"I promise you, Roby. We'll meet again. Okay? Go back. I'll be fine here. You'll be fine too." He still didn't want to leave.

John decided to grad him away from me. He put Roby over his shoulders. Roby was screaming and crying for me. I couldn't help it. I cried even harder. It was heartbreaking to see him like this.

Soon, they were nowhere to be seen.

I walked back in and the visit was still going on. It won't end for the next two hours. I decided to go and visit Stark since I knew that his family won't be visiting him and he'll be up in his room.

I knocked on his door and a few seconds later, he opened it. He was wearing his jeans and black shirt that says 'Three Days Grace' in white. He motioned me to come in and I did. I sat on his chair by the desk while he lay on his bed. I realized that he was playing a song through the speakers. It was _The Suburbs_ by _Arcade Fire. _It was my favourite. It made me feel so infinite hearing this song every time.

"What are you doing here?" Stark asked.

"Well, my family left and it ended with tears being shed and hearts being broken. Everyone was still busy with their family and I decided to come here because I knew you would be here, feeling bored without my company." I decided to be sarcastic at the end to lighten up the mood.

He laughed and I would want to hear it all the time. "You are right. I would be extremely bored without you. I almost wanted to listen to sad songs and cry myself to sleep because you weren't here with me but then, you knocked on my door." This time, both of us laughed. He never fails to make me feel good.

He sat on the edge of his bed and patted on the space next to him, asking me to sit there. I got up from the chair and sat next to him. He knew I was still sad. He could read me so well.

"What happened?" He asked. I leaned back and lay on the bed. He followed suit.

"Mum, Grandma Redbird and Roby came without John's permission. Just as they were about to leave, he appeared and dragged them home. Roby was screaming and crying. It was horrible." I said softly. "But, it's okay. I got to see them and I'm glad they still loved me." Stark laughed again.

"What?"

"You're just so positive!" He said in between laughter.

"Well, that is a good thing!" I said while smacking him in the arm. Hard.

"Oh, so that's how you wanna play it, huh?" Then he tackled me on the bed and started tickling me all over.

"Stark! Stop! I won't do it anymore! Stop!" I giggled.

Then the door opened and Jack came in.

"Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to disturb anything." Jack said and his cheeks turned red. Stark got up and walked to him. I realized Stark was blushing and laughed softly to myself.

"You didn't. What's up?"

"I just wanted to return Duchess." Then a large, blond Labrador Retriever came in and came over to me. I got down and scratch him.

"Hey there, buddy. Aren't you adorable?" I said to Duchess. I got a bark as a reply.

"She likes you." Stark said, standing near door with his hands in his pockets of his jeans. I didn't realize that Jack had already left.

"I thought cats are only allowed."

"Well, Duchess is my version of a cat. Aren't you, girl?" He sat beside me and patted Duchess. Duchess licked his face. It was too cute to watch.

While the parent's visit were going on, Stark and I stayed in his room since we didn't have anyone to visit us. We laughed, listened to music, danced, sang, played with Duchess, got to know each other, goofed around, talked about our lives… Basically, we had fun. It was as if I've known Stark my whole life. He was like my best friend.

We were lying on Stark's bed, our legs hanging, while Duchess was on top of me when we heard someone knocking on the door. Stark got up, leaving my side, and opened the door.

"Oh, hey! It's you. What's up?" I didn't know who it was because I was busy playing with Duchess who is on my tummy.

Both of them were talking for a while when I heard my name being called out.

"Zoey, hey! I didn't know you were in here." I sat up and saw that it was Erik.

"Oh, hey! I didn't know it was you either." I laughed nervously at the end.

"Anyway, I gotta go now. Neferet wants to see me for I don't know what. So, see ya!" He left and shut the door.

"What does he want?" I asked Stark.

"He said the visit is over and we're supposed to go get our lunch and continue with our classes."

We left and headed for the cafeteria with Duchess was trailing behind us.

I sat down on my seat next to a girl, whose name I think is Ruby, in Spanish class and waited for Prof. Garmy to walk into the class and begin with our lesson. Ruby is a sweet girl. She has bambi jade eyes and short red hair. We chatted throughout the lesson since we have no interest in Spanish class when I heard Prof. Garmy calling out my name.

_Oh oh, I'm busted._

When I turned my head to look at him, I was surprised to see Aphrodite right next to him. She should be having Vampyre Sociology with Neferet right now. I gave her a confused look and she just smiled.

"You're wanted to help out with the Dark Daughters community." I murmured a quick .bye to Ruby and walked out of the class with Aphrodite.

Aphrodite told me that she needed help with some Dark Daughters stuff. She wanted to come up with some new leadership ideas. We walked to the library and sat in front the computers. I was told to do some search on private preparatory schools so that was what I typed in the Google search engine. Aphrodite went to look for some books.

I was busy scribbling down notes with my pen on my notebook so when I heard a deep voice behind me, I almost jumped out of my seat.

"Zoey Redbird, right?"

I looked behind and was shocked to see him standing there.

"And you're Professor Loren Blake, right?"

He chuckled and it sounded so _sexy. _"Please, call me Loren." He took a sit on the seat that was previously sat by Aphrodite, which was right next to me.

I grasped his forearm as it was the traditional vampyre greeting and his arm was warm and it felt strong. His gorgeous eyes, so dark they looked black and bottomless, sparkled mischievously. I realized I was still grasping his arm and decided to let go of him.

"So… What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"I was just wandering around, getting to know the school." Then he did the most unexpected thing ever. He reached out and traced my filled in tattoo, looking at them in awe.

"It is true, then." He shifted his gaze and met with my eyes. "What Neferet said?" His finger was still tracing my tattoo.

"Well, what did she said?"

"Your tattoo is different from the others. It's already filled in although you're not Changed yet."

I just nodded my head. Neferet was talking about me with him? Why would she do that?

"Beautiful and intelligent and innocent," he whispered. Then his incredible voice recited, "_The best part of beauty is that which no picture can express_."

Someone cleared their throat behind us and Loren dropped his hand from my face. Aphrodite was glaring at him, her arms crossing over her chest. What made her changed her mind? She was drooling over him yesterday when he arrived but now, she was shooting daggers at him with her eye? Loren walked quickly to the checkout counter and I saw him walked out the door. Aphrodite took her seat on the chair and looked worriedly at me.

"Don't trust him, Zoey," was what she said. For the rest of the time, we did our research, talking only to discuss about the ideas.

Today is the day, the day when the ritual is held. I have to admit; I was nervous and a bit scared. It was my first time and I don't want any more attention. Getting attention from my tattoo is enough already. I put on my dress that Aphrodite paid for me the other day and put on some light make up, just a quick few strokes of mascara and some foundation on my face. I was all ready when Stevie Rae walked out from the bathroom. She looked stunning. She was wearing a black dress like mine too. Except that her sleeves reached her forearm and it was a v-neck dress. She let her hair down which made it bounce every time she moves. She looked like she wore make-up even though she did not. We all got ready and left for the Full Moon Ritual.

Sweet, smoky incense engulfed me as I entered the dark arched foyer of Nyx's temple. I hesitated which caused Shaunee and Stevie Rae to look at me.

"Don't worry, Zo. There's nothing to be nervous or scared about in there." Stevie Rae met my eyes.

"You'll like the Full Moon Ritual. It's great! Oh, you have to say 'blessed be' back to her when the vamp traces the pentagon on your forehead and says 'blessed be', alright?" Shaunee explained. "Then follow us to our positions in the circle." She smiled reassuringly and we hurried into the dimly lit interior room.

We walked deeper into the foyer and heard running water. I saw a beautiful fountain on the way. We were met with a vampyre that stood in the doorway that I didn't recognize. She was dressed in black – a long skirt and a silky, bell-sleeved blouse. The decoration she has on her was the silver embroidered goddess figure over her breast. Her hair was long and the colour of wheat. Sapphire-coloured spirals radiated from her crescent moon tattoo to down her flawless face. I learned from Stevie Rae that her name was Anastasia. She's Dragon's wife and also the teacher for the Spells and Rituals class. No wonder I've never seen her before…

Stevie Rae stepped up to her and respectfully placed her fist over her heart. Anastasia smiled and dipped her finger into the bowl that she was holding in her hand and traced a pentagon on Stevie Rae's forehead.

"Blessed be, Stevie Rae," she said.

"Blessed be," Stevie Rae responded.

She gave me a look that says 'you can do it, girl!' before she disappeared into the smoky room in front, followed by Shaunee.

I took a deep breath and stepped up to her. I mimicked Stevie Rae and placed my fist over my heart. She did the same thing to me as she did to Stevie Rae. I realized that the thing that she dipped her finger into was, indeed, oil. She could see that I was nervous as she gave me encouraging words.

"Blessed be," she said.

"Blessed be," I muttered. I was surprised at the electrical shiver that passed through my body when the damp star had taken form on my forehead.

I hurried into the room, not wanting to be lost. Stevie Rae's waving hands snagged my attention. I moved my feet and took my place in the circle beside Stevie Rae.

**(A/N: Sorry. From this part, I took from the book, Marked, because I didn't know any other way to describe the ritual. Sorry! Enjoy!)**

Four forms seemed to materialize from within the darkened corners of the room to become women who made their way to four spots just within the living circle, like the directions on a compass. Two more entered from the doorway which I'd just come. I recognize one of them to be Loren Blake. He started to speak.

_She walks in beauty, like the night_

_Of cloudless climes and starry skies…_

He moved closely towards the circle as he spoke. The woman who had entered the room with began to sway, and then to dance gracefully outside the living circle, as if his voice was music.

_And all that's best of dark and bright_

_Meet in her aspect and her eyes…_

The dancing woman caught everyone's attention. As she swayed and danced, I realized it was Neferet and jolted. She was wearing a long silk dress that had tiny crystal beads sewn all over it, so that the candlelight caught each of her movements and made her shimmer like the star-filled night sky. Her movements seemed to call alive the words of the old poem, "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron.

_Thus mellowed to that tender light_

_Which heaven to gaudy day denies._

Once Loren finished reading the stanza, both of them (Neferet and Loren) ended up in the center of the circle. Then Neferet took a goblet from the table and lifted it, as if offering a drink to the circle.

"Welcome Nyx's children to the Goddess's celebration of the full moon!"

The adult vamps chorused, "Merry meet."

Neferet smiled and put the goblet back on the table and picked up a long white taper that was already lit and sitting in a single candlestick holder. Then she walked across to face a vamp I didn't know who was standing at what must be the head of the circle. The vamp saluted her, hand over breast, before turning around so that her back was to Neferet.

"_Psst!_" Stevie Rae whispered. "We all face each of the four directions as Neferet evokes the elements and casts Nyx's circle. East and air comes first."

Then everyone turned to face east. I was kinda slow. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Neferet raise her arms over her head as her voice rang against the stone walls of the temple.

"From east I summon air and ask that you carry to this circle the gift of knowledge that our ritual will be filled with learning."

As Neferet spoke those words, I felt the air around me; ruffling my hair, filling my ears with the sound of wind sighing through leaves. I looked around to see everyone else's reactions but their hairs weren't messed up. Awkward.

The vamp that was standing in the east pulled a thick yellow candle from the folds of her dress, and Neferet lit it. She lifted it into the air, and the placed it, flickering, at her feet.

We turned to the right and Neferet continued. "From the south I summon fire and ask that you light in this circle the gift of strength of will, so that our ritual will be binding and powerful."

The wind was soon replaced by a sensation of heat. It was comfortable, actually. I closed my eyes and smiled, feeling the warmth around my body. The intensity of heat jumped up a notch and when I opened my eyes, I looked back at Neferet and saw that she had lit a large red candle that Penthesilea was holding. Penthesilea lifted it up in offering before placing it by her feet.

We turned to the right and faced west. Somehow, I knew that the next element to be summoned was water.

"From the west I summon water and ask that you wash this circle in compassion, that the light of the full moon can be used to bestow healing to our group as well as understanding."

Neferet lit the west-facing vamp's blue candle. The vamp lifted it, and placed it at her feet as the sound of waves filled my ears and the scent of the sea filled my nose. We faced north and embraced earth.

"From the north I summon earth and ask that you grow within this circle the gift of manifestation, which the wishes and prayers from tonight will come to fruition."

Suddenly I could feel the softness of a grassy meadow under my feet, and I smelled hay and heard birdsong. A green candle was lit and placed at "earth"'s feet.

I should feel scared and afraid of the odd sensations that's filling me but it feels so good! So good that when Neferet faced the flame in the middle of the room and all of us turned to the face her, I had to press my lips together to keep me from laughing out loud. Loren was standing across the fire from Neferet and he was holding a purple candle in his hands. He looks so freaking _hot._

"And last, I summon spirit to complete our circle and ask that you fill us with connection, so that as your children we may prosper together."

As she said those words, I felt my own spirit leap, like there were bird wings fluttering around inside my chest, as Loren lit the candle from the huge flame and then placed it on the table. Then Neferet began to move around within the circle, speaking to us, meeting our eyes and began speaking.

"This is the time of the fullness of the moon. All things wax and wane, even Nyx's children, her vampyres. But on this night the powers of life, of magic, and of creation are at the brightest – as is our Goddess's moon. This is the time of building…of doing."

My heart was beating hard as I watched Neferet speak. She was doing a sermon. This was a worship service, but it has never touched me like no other sermon had ever begun to do.

"This is a time when the veil between the mundane world and the strange and beautiful realms of the Goddess become thin indeed. On this night may one transcend the boundaries of the worlds with ease, and know the beauty enchantment of Nyx."

I shivered and I could feel a tingling and warm sensation on my Mark. Loren began to speak in his deep, powerful voice.

"This is a time for weaving the ethereal into being, of spinning the strands of space and time to being forth Creation. For life is a circle as a mystery. Our Goddess understands this, as does her consort, Erebus.

Light…dark…day…night…death…life…all is tied together by a spirit and the touch of the Goddess. If wee keep the balance and look to the Goddess we can lean to weave a spell of moonlight and fashion with it a fabric of pure magical substance to keep us all the days of our lives."

"Close your eyes, Children of Nyx," Neferet said "and send a secret desire to your Goddess. Tonight, when the veil between the worlds is thin – when magic is afoot within the mundane – perhaps Nyx will grant your petitions and dust you with the gossamer mist of dreams fulfilled."

I closed my eyes and thought about the magic that seemed to surround me, and then I sent up my wish into the night. _My secret wish is that I belong…that I have finally found a home no one can take away from me._

In her voice that was soft and powerful – woman and warrior combined – Neferet called us to open our eyes and continued the ritual.

"This is a time of travelling unseen in the full moonlight. A time to listen for music not fashioned by human or vampyre hands. It is a time for oneness with the winds that caress us" – Neferet bowed her head slightly to the east – "and the bolt of lightning that mimics the spark of first life." She tilted her head to the south. "It is a time to revel in the eternal sea and the warm rains that soothe us, as well as the verdant land that surrounds and keeps us." She acknowledged the west and north in turn.

I felt a jolt of electricity sizzled through my body each time Neferet named an element. Then the four women moved as one to the table and lifted up the goblet, together with Neferet and Loren.

"All hail, O Goddess of Night and the full moon!" Neferet said. "All hail Night, from whom our blessings come. On this night we give thanks to thee!"

The four women moved to their places in the circle, still holding the goblet.

"In the mighty name of Nyx," Neferet said.

"And of Erebus," Loren added.

"We ask that from within your sacred circle that you give us the knowledge to speak the language of wilds, to fly with the freedom of the bird, to live the power and grace of feline, and to find ecstasy and joy in life that would stir the very heights of our blessing. Blessed be!"

Neferet drank from the goblet she held before giving it to Loren, who drank from it and said "blessed be". The same as them, the four women quickly moved around the circle and offered the goblet to every fledging and adult for them to drink. The wine was red and the taste wasn't what I expected. Instead of tasting bitter, it was sweet and spicy and it made my head feel lighter. When everyone was done, the goblet was returned to the table.

"Tonight I want each of us to spend at least a moment or two alone in the light of the full moon. Let its light refresh you and help you remember how extraordinary you are… or you are becoming." She smiled at some fledgings, including me, and it was looked kinda creepy. "Bask in your uniqueness. Revel in your strength. We stand separate from the world because of our gifts. Never forget that, because you may be sure the world never will. Now let us close the circle and embrace the night."

Neferet thanked each element and sent them away as each candle was blown out in reverse order. I couldn't help but feel sad when the elements were sent away. It was like I didn't feel complete again. The she completed the ritual by saying, "This rite is ended. Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!"

The crowd echoed the last line and that was it. I have experienced my first ever ritual and Shaunee was right; it was great. More than great, actually; it was amazing.

The Dark Daughters and Sons had a ritual to do and since I was in it, I had to attend it too. Instead of feeling nervous and afraid like I did for the previous ritual, I actually felt excited and couldn't wait to get started on the ritual. Jack and Stark left since they were not a part of it. I followed the rest and climbed up the steps that led to a round brick building situated on a little hill overlooking the eastern part of the wall surrounding the school.

The torches on either side of the thick wooden door were lit by gas and not the raw flame sconces used in Nyx's temple. Aphrodite opened the door and all of us stepped inside. The interior was all one big room. The circular-shaped walls were draped in black velvet, blocking the windows and sliver moonlight. This is a rec room so they must have shoved all the furniture to the sides and covered them to make the room look creepier. The circle was situated in the middle of the room and made up entirely of candles in tall red glass containers. They were like hundreds of them and as we took our position in the circle, the candles lit us. Only now that I realized all of my friends weren't wearing any embroidered rank insignias. Instead, they had a thick silver chain that glittered around their necks from which an odd symbol dangled. It looked like two crescent moons positioned back to back against a full moon. The circle was similar like the one in Nyx's temple except that there was an extra chair next to the table. On the chair, there was someone sitting on it. The table was draped with the same black velvet as the walls, and there was a Goddess statue on it, a bowl of fruit and bread, several goblets, and a pitcher and a…knife. Weird, why was there a knife on the table?

The air began to fill with smoke and was surprised by its bitterness when I breathed it in. It smelled like clove and bay and something tangy and bitter. Then, I knew it. They were filling the room with pot smoke mixed with spices.

The music began and Aphrodite began to dance her way around the circle. It was like what Neferet was doing just now. As the music stopped, she was standing in the middle of the circle in front of the table. She picked up a big purple candle in one hand, and the knife in another. The candle was lit, and she carried it to the side of the circle where I now noticed one yellow candle nestled among the red ones. Knowing what to do already, I turned to the east. As wind ruffled my hair, from the corner of my vision I could see that she had lit the yellow candle and now she raised the knife, slashing a pentagram in the air as she spoke;

_O winds of storm, in Nyx's name I do call thee forth,_

_Cast thy blessing, I do ask,_

_Upon the magic which shall be worked here!_

We turned to face south and she approached the large red pillar candle among the other red ones, and I could feel what I was already recognizing as the power of the fire and the magic circle wash over my skin.

_O fire of lightning, in Nyx's name I do call thee forth,_

_Bringer of storms and power of magic,_

_I ask your aid in the spell I do here work!_

We turned again. I felt drawn to the blue candle and had to keep myself from stepping from the circle and joining Aphrodite.

_O torrents of rain, in Nyx's name I do call thee forth._

_Join me with your downing strength, in performing this_

_Most powerful of rituals!_

What the hell is freaking wrong with me? I could feel sweats all over my body and my Mark was hot, hotter than the earlier ritual. It was burning hot and I swear I could hear the roar of the sea in my ears. I tried to ignore it and turned to the right.

_O earth, deep and damp, in Nyx's name I do call thee forth,_

_That I may feel the earth herself move in the roar of the storm of power_

_Which doth come when you aid me in this rite!_

Aphrodite sliced the air again and my hand itched to hold the knife and cut the air. I smelled cut grass and heard the cry of a whippoorwill, like it was nesting invisibly in the air beside me. Aphrodite moved back to the center of the circle. Placing the still-burning purple candle back on its place in the middle of the table she completed the casting.

_O spirit, wild and free, in Nyx's name I do call thee to me!_

_Answer me! Stay with me during this mighty ritual_

_And grant me thy Goddess's power!_

She raised the goblet and began walking around the circle. I knew what was happening next. I don't know how but I just knew.

"This is the time of the fullness of our Goddess's moon. There is magnificence to this night. The ancients knew the mysteries of this night, and used them to strengthen themselves…and to split the veil between worlds and have adventures we only dream about today. Secret…mysterious…magical…true beauty and power in vampyre form – not tainted by human rules or law. We are _not _humans!" Her voice ring against the walls, like Neferet earlier. "And all your Dark Daughters and Sons ask tonight in this rite is what we have petitioned each full moon for the past year. Free the power within us so that, like the mighty felines of the wild, we know the lithe suppleness of our animal brethren and we are not bound by human chains or caged by their ignorant weaknesses."

Aphrodite had stopped right in front of me and offered me the goblet. She gave me a reassuring smile and asked me to drink from the goblet. I grabbed it and took a big drink from it. It tastes… _so good. _It was wine but not like the wine I tasted earlier. This one was sweet, too, but there was something else that I've never tasted before. It made me want to drink more but I stopped myself from embarrassing myself.

"Blessed be," Aphrodite said.

"Blessed be." I responded.

She moved around the circle and let them drink from the goblet. Then, she lifted the goblet again.

"Great and magical Goddess of Night and of the full moon, she who rides through the thunder and the tempest, leading the spirits and Elder Ones, beautiful and awesome one, who even those most ancient must obey, aid us in what we ask. Fill us with your power and magic and strength!"

Then she drank the remainders from the goblet. When she finished, the music started up again. She made her way back around the circle, dancing and laughing as she blew out each of them and told the element good-bye.

"Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!" she ended. We responded and the ritual was over. I felt a little bit dizzy from the wine that I drank from the goblet and told Stevie Rae that I'll be outside, getting some fresh air.

I walked and walked until I came to a giant oak. I saw something in the limbs of the oak. It looks like a…cat? Before I took a step forward, I heard someone calling my name from behind.

"Zoey!"

I turned around and didn't expect to see that person standing there, smiling and running forward to me.

**End of chapter! I didn't quite enjoyed writing this as I got most of it from the book. I didn't know how to describe the ritual so I decided to get it from the book, Marked. Anyway, I hope you guys still like it!**

**I decided that I will want 10-15 reviews before I post up the next chapter. Is that okay? Sorry, tho. SO, REVIEW TO GET THE NEXT CHAPTER! :D**

**CHILLIGIRL1 – I'm trying my best to work on my grammar. Thanks for the review, tho! I'm glad you liked it! :D**

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**SUMMER – I like your name! :D Thank you so much! :D Hearing this made my night. LOL. THANKS! :D**

**CHIARA – Haha! Who doesn't? Anyway, thanks! :D**

**HAYLEY – STARK IS BEYOND AWESOMESAUCE! Hahahaha! Thanks! :D**

**BARBARA – Thanks! And of course, I will visit! :D**

**JEANNE – HAHA! Yes. Yes, she does. THANKS! :D**

**MEREDITH – As you can tell, I'm a huge Stark fan so I won't be writing about Zoey-Heat or Zoey-Loren. But do expect to see both of them together in some parts tho! THANKS! :D**

**SAM – Hahaha! Me too! People don't expect her to be kind but she actually is! Thanks! :D**

**VALS – Girl, I agree with you. I can't stand them either! TEAM STARK ALL THE WAY! :D Thanks! :D**

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**CAROL – I can't stand him either. He's like a child. THANKS! :D**

**MONIKA – Haha! Yeap, the puke thing was kinda not cool. THANKS! :D**

**SO, REMEMEBER! 10-15 review before the next chapter! :D REVIEW! :D**


	10. The Plan

**Alright, there's nothing much to say here except… I would like to say thanks to all of you out there! Those who reads my story, reviews my story, everyone! Thank you so much! It really means a lot to me and waking up to see your reviews made my day even better than expected. So, thank you. Love you guys! :D**

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**I hope you like this chapter and don't forget to review. Remember, more reviews = faster updates. LOL. ENJOY. :D**

**DISCLAIMER: By now, you should know if I do or do not own the House of Night. **

Chapter 10: The Plan

_Loren's POV_

I paced back and forth in the middle of my room. Do I really want to do this? Do I really want to repeat my past mistakes again? I took off my coat that I wore for the Full Moon Ritual. It was getting hotter as I got more tensed in here. I looked at the clock that was situated on the table by my bed. The ritual ended thirty minutes ago. That means another thirty minutes left and the Dark Daughters ritual for the full moon will end. That also means that it was time for me to carry out _the plan_.

I became more and more tensed as the time goes by. I can't bear to face the guilt of my past mistakes wash through me again. I can't bear to feel the hurt and the regret again. It was too much and I didn't wish for it to happen. I made my decision. What I did was a mistake that I didn't want to repeat again. I put my coat back on and began to make my way towards Neferet's office.

"Come on in," Neferet said after I knocked onto the door of her office. One of the two guards guarding by each side of her door opened it up and I entered, preparing for what was to come.

I was shaking for what I was about to say. Although she is one smoking hot High Priestess, she can be a hell of a woman. I'm pretty sure, no, I'm positive, that she will burst into anger when I tell her that I'm backing out. I knew what kind of trouble I was putting myself into when I was to do what she told me to.

Neferet put her papers down and looked up to see me standing nervously in front of her. She smiled and gestured me to sit on the seat in front of her. I sat down and fidgeted with my fingers. I could feel sweat forming on the back of my neck.

"What can I help you with, Loren? You're supposed to be carrying out the plan on that _girl_." She spited the word 'girl' like it was a dirty word.

I looked up and she looked quite mad because I wasn't out there, looking for her and carrying out the plan. _Might as well tell her right now. _I thought to myself.

"I can't do it." I said softly, fear evident in my voice.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" She obviously heard it as she hissed those words to me and I flinched.

"I can't do it. I can't do what I did to Maria again." I said, louder this time.

She got up from her seat and so did I. She walked over to me until she was at my side and I faced her. If looks could kill, I would be dead already. I avoided looking into her eyes but she grabbed my face with both her hands and made me look in the eye.

"From now on, you will do what I say, when I say! You will carry out the plan and not feel guilty or whatsoever."

"I will carry out the plan and not feel guilty or whatsoever." I said in a daze state.

"You will report to me once you're done." Neferet said again. I nodded my head in response.

She freed her grasped from my face and I walked out the door, in search to find her and get this done with. She was nowhere to be found in the building so I got out and I was right to find her there. She was standing a few meters away from the giant oak. She was about to take a step forward when I called out to her.

"Zoey!" I ran towards her with a smile plastered on my face. I tried to put up as much act as I could master up.

"Loren? What are you doing here?" She was shocked and startled to see me here by the look on her face and by the way she was saying those words.

"Well, I saw you walking out here alone and I thought I could accompany you on this beautiful evening." I replied once I was right in front of her. Well, the evening won't be beautiful for long.

She smiled at me. The cold wind blew past us and she shivered. Of course, she shivered. She was still wearing the dress that she wore for the ritual and black pumps! I, trying to be a gentleman, took out my coat and put it around her. I have to make her have faith in me.

"Thanks." She whispered to me through the cold air that surrounded us.

We continued walking in silence for a while. The moon was brightly lit above the sky and it was big and round. I didn't want the situation to be awkward so I decided to make conversation with her.

"So… How was your first ritual?"

"It wasn't what I expected it to be, actually." She hugged herself, trying to keep her warm.

"Well, what did you think it would be?"

"I thought it would be boring and creepy because I'm still not used to this stuff but it was a great and an amazing experience. It was as if I was Neferet and calling out the elements. It was just… breathtaking." She smiled all the while she said it.

Wait, what? She felt as if she was Neferet?

"What do you mean as if you were Neferet?" I voiced my thoughts out asked curiously but not too curious.

"I don't know. When she called out those elements… I could feel them," She stopped in her tracks and faced me. "The wind when she called out air, the heat when she called out fire… I could feel everything. It was wonderful and…magical."

I looked at her, eyes wide. She couldn't be feeling those, could she? But her eyes said she weren't lying. The only person that felt those when carrying out a ritual is Neferet, the High Priestess and Aphrodite, the High Priestess-in-training. But none of them has the affinity for the five elements. No one has an affinity for all five elements in centuries. My brains clicked together.

"It couldn't be…" I must have said it out loud because Zoey seemed to hear it.

"What were you saying?"

"It's nothing. We should get back in by now. It's almost past curfew." I placed my hand behind her back and lead us into the building.

_Zoey's POV_

Loren led me back into an empty classroom once we were in the building. The classroom looked abandoned and like it's never been used, or even cleaned, for years. The screw to hold the chalkboard broke loose and it hung slanted on the wall. The tables and chairs were all over the place in a messy position instead of neatly and in order.

I was about to ask Loren about the classroom but stopped. He had a look of hunger in his eyes and he was breathing deeply. My body tensed up. He looked as if he was about to do something bad and dangerous to me. The look on his face wasn't good. I gulped when he came closer to me.

"Loren, what's going on? What are you doing?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper due to the fear that was visible in me.

Then he kissed me. It took a moment for me to realize what he was doing because I was too shocked but as soon as I knew what he was doing, I pushed him away. Yeah, he is hot for a vampyre but I don't have feelings for him that would make us in a relationship. What he did next scared the hell out of me.

I gasped as he slammed me against the wall and my back got hurt by the impact. _Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit._ I kept chanting those words like it was a mantra. I tried to free myself from him but he was too strong.

"Stop trying to escape. You don't wanna get hurt, do you?" His voice sounded deadly. Then he began kissing my collarbone and moved up to my neck. I felt a few tears slipped out of my eye. He looked me in the eye and I realized what he was going to do.

_Fuck. He's going to rape me._

And boy, was I right. He slammed me onto one of the tables near us and began ripping my shirt out. I tried to scream but he covered my mouth with one of his hands and my screams were muffled. More tears leaked out by now. _Oh, Nyx, help me. _Suddenly, I called out one of the elements. I don't know how I did it but I just did.

"Air," I whispered. "Please come to me." I felt the wind again. "Help me get him off of me." The next thing I knew, Loren was being slammed against the wall and I heard him groaned in pain.

"Thank you, air. You may leave." I whispered again.

I took this opportunity to get up from the table and head for the door. I reached the door handle but not enough to grab it and get out of the classroom. I screamed as pulled my hair and brought me back to him. He slapped me, hard, in the face. It was more like a punch. Man, that's gonna leave a bruise tomorrow. I fell to the ground and I touched the part where he slapped my face with my hand.

I crawled backwards, trying to get away from him as far as I could. He came closer to me and he was faster. I was dead scared by now; my eyes swollen from the tears, my back hurting from the slamming and my face, burning from the slap. He hovered over me and I closed my eyes, not wanting to see what he was going to do next. I waited for what he was about to do but it didn't happen. I felt a weight being lifted off of me and I opened my eyes. My eyes lit up and I swear I was smiling through my tears and the pain that I was feeling. In front of me stood my hero, with his bow and arrows in his hand, fighting with that filthy bastard, Loren.

"_Stark…_" As I said his name, he looked at me and came to me. I tried to keep my eyes open but I was losing. My head was spinning and I could see black spots dancing around me. I soon gave up and let darkness take over me.

_Stark's POV_

I went back to my room after the Full Moon Ritual ended since the others went for the Dark Daughters and Sons Full Moon Ritual and Jack had to help out with Dragon. I walked into my room and straight away headed for the bed, not bothered to change and drifted off to sleep.

_My back was on something solid and cold. Where was I? I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. I was nowhere in my room. In fact, I don't think I was in the House of Night. Everything was so white and so bright. I stood up and looked down and saw that I was still wearing the outfit I wore before I drifted off to sleep; my favourite black Levis jeans and my grey hoodie. _

_Oh, goddess. Am I in heaven? But I don't remember being in an accident that can lead to my death as I drifted to sleep. This must be a weird dream._

_Then I heard a female voice laughing. It sounded sweet; like music. I followed the laughter and as I walked, the light became brighter that I had to shield my eyes with my hands and a figure was appearing in front of me._

"_Stark, listen to me." I put my hands away and the figure was fully visible by now. She was beautiful. Her hair was flowing in wavy curls just above her waist and she was wearing a plain white dress that hugged her curves and flowed out all the way to the ground. Her face was filled with worry and I realized this is no time to joke. Soon, I knew who she was. I knew her by heart._

"_Nyx?" I whispered._

"_Yes, I am Nyx." She smiled then, continued. "You need to help and save Zoey. She's in trouble."_

_As soon as I heard Zoey's name, I panicked._

"_Zoey? W-what's wrong? What happened to her?"_

"_You need to save her." _

_My surroundings shifted and before I could ask Nyx anymore questions, the dream ended._

I jolted up from my bed and left my room. I ran to where Zoey was. I was led to a place I've never been or seen before. I saw a door and went for it. I heard a girl screaming and I knew it was Zoey. I opened the door and saw Loren Blake hovering over my girl, who was in fear and who looked hurt.

Anger coursed through me and I put it out on that fucking bastard who's trying to hurt Zoey. I got him off her and I punched him in the face, hard enough to leave a huge bruise tomorrow. I heard his nose cracked and I smirked.

He touched his nose to check for blood and wiped the blood off with the back of his hand. He laughed an evil laugh and ran towards me in speed. He was fast but not fast enough for me to defend myself. He tried to punch my face but I caught his hand and kicked him in the gut. He crouched, his hand on his stomach, and backed away.

"Shoot me if you dare." He said, his voice was hoarse.

I was confused but soon understood what he said when I saw my bow and arrow in my hands, aiming at him. Or at his heart, shall I say. How did it end up here, in my hands? I must have brought it along with me when I left my room without me realizing it. I can't shoot him. Not after what happened, I can't shoot.

Loren seemed to realize that I was struggling and laughed proudly. I got even angrier. I was about to release my arrow when I heard the sweetest voice that was filled with pain.

"_Stark…_" I looked to where Zoey was and put my bow and arrows down. I ran by her side and held her in my arms. Her eyes were fighting to keep it opened as she swayed and soon, her eyes closed. I didn't care about Loren's presence in here anymore. I looked at her face and got even more worried. She looked horrible. Her hair was around the place and there was blood on the side of her face. I placed her on my lap and stroked her face and hair.

"Zo? Zoey? Zoey, you gotta stay awake! Zo, please!" It's not working. She's still unconscious. I didn't know that I was crying until I felt my tears spilling down my face and saw it falling on her face. She can't do this to me! Not right now!

"Zoey, please! Please, Zo. _Please…_" I leaned my forehead against hers and cried. I heard Loren laughing softly and the sound of his footsteps. His footsteps soon became softer until it was no longer heard, indicating that he left the room.

I picked her up in my arms, bridal style, and carried her out of the abandoned classroom. I was heading towards her room when I spotted Stevie Rae. Once she saw us and Zoey's condition, she came running towards us.

"Stark, what happened to Zoey? Why is she unconscious? Why is there blood on her face? STARK, WHAT'S WRONG?" She bombarded me with questions.

"I'll explain to you later. Follow me to you guys' room!" I said while walking to their room, careful not to hurt Zoey.

All the while walking there, I whispered soothing words to Zoey. When we got in her room, I lay Zoey on her bed and sat by her. I held her hand, I stroke her hair, and I cared for her. Aphrodite entered the room with Darius by her side. Stevie Rae must have called them while I was busy caring for Zoey. Darius told me to step aside but I couldn't let her go.

"Damn it, Stark! Just let him do his work, will you? Jeez!" Aphrodite sounded frustrated.

I stepped aside but still stayed close to Zoey. My crying stopped by now. While Darius was treating Zoey, I looked at the other two. Stevie Rae was crying and she looked sad and worried for her. Of course, she would. I was, too. Aphrodite didn't cry but I knew she was worried. It was obvious. Zoey doesn't know what effect she has on other people. I moved next to Stevie Rae and hugged her. Stevie Rae was like a sister to me.

"Alright, I've cleaned her up and I've treated her. Can someone tell me why we're not telling Neferet about this?" Darius asked while putting his stuff back into the aid kit.

"Come on, I'll tell you on the way out." Good. Aphrodite could give a good reason.

I sat by Zoey all night, making sure that she was okay. Stevie Rae wouldn't go to bed but I made sure that she would. There are classes tomorrow and she should be having enough sleep. I didn't care about my classes tomorrow; Zoey's the only thing on my mind right now. I took care of her the whole night and eventually, I fell asleep by her side too.

_Loren's POV_

It was the day after that incident happened. I realized that Neferet used compulsion on me to rape Zoey. How the hell she did that, I don't know. But I'm fucking sick of this and I want to back out. I don't want to be a part of her plan anymore. I heard that Zoey's not attending classes today and was in her room so I decided to pay her a visit. I wanted to apologize and warn her about Neferet and her evil plans.

"What are you doing here? Get away from me!" Zoey's face was filled with fear when she saw me enter her room. I felt the guilt pass through me again.

"Please, let me explain. I know what I did yesterday hurt you and I didn't mean it. Please, let me explain." I closed the door and begged her.

"Why should I?" She replied, calmer this time but there was still fear in her voice.

"Because Neferet has got to do with this." At the mention of Neferet's name, Zoey tensed and her eyes became wide. She gestured me to sit on the seat that was situated by her bedside. I saw what I had done to her face and placed my hand to trace the bruise. She flinched in pain and I dropped my hand.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you. I swear I was going to tell her that I didn't want any part of her plans anymore but she compelled me!"

"Plans? What plans?" She gave me a confused looked and I decided to tell her everything, starting from the beginning.

"A few years back, I raped a fledging in the Georgia House of Night. Her name was Maria and she was fifteen. After she was raped, her body rejected the change and she died. It was instant. It wasn't the day after or the hour after. It was exactly after I raped her.

After Neferet found out about this, she came to me and offered me something I wanted badly. You see, my position as a Vampyre Poet Laureate was taken away after that incident and Neferet, knowing that that position means a lot to me, offered me that life back when I did what she told me to do. She wanted me to rape you so that you could reject the change and die. I didn't want to but she compelled me to it."

She kept quiet the whole time I was talking. I looked at my feet while I was talking. I was too embarrassed to face her. Heck, I was too embarrassed to ever continue living.

"Why would she do that?" She was sitting, cross-legged, on her bed. I looked up to her and gave her a small smile. She didn't know anything, does she?

"It's because of your mark, Zoey. You're special; chosen by the Goddess, Nyx, herself."

"How does it make me special?"

"Remember last night, when you told me about how you felt as if you were Neferet?" She nodded her head. "Zoey, you have an affinity for all five of the elements. No one has that in centuries! That is what makes you special. Nyx knows what Neferet is up to and it's up to you to stop her. You're the only one."

"Yesterday, I called upon air to get you off of me and you slammed into the wall." Her voice was soft.

"Now, we know that you have an affinity for air but you need to find out if you have for the others." My voice was serious by now.

"But… How?"

"You and your friends can find out that. Let me warn you about Neferet. She wants to be in the position of a Goddess. She's evil, no longer in Nyx's path. I don't know why she would do it but she told me her plans on having a war between humans and creatures like us and she would kill anyone who stands in her way. She knew you would be, that's why she wants you dead."

Stark chose to enter the room at this moment. He didn't realize I was here at first but soon, he did. He didn't have a bow and arrow this time. I heard rumours about him killing his mentor during the Summer Games. Poor kid. He must have gone through a lot.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm leaving now." I faced Zoey again. "Please, Zoey. You're the only one." I got up and stood in front of Stark. "You should've shoot me last night." I left the room and faced my fate with Neferet.

As I walked through that path to Neferet's office, I knew what was up for me. I knew what was going to happen because when I walked through those doors, I walked through the easy way towards my death.

_Zoey's POV_

_Please, Zoey. You're the only one… _I couldn't get those words off of my mind. Was I really that special? Did I really have an affinity for all five elements? Was Neferet really planning to have a war with humans? Did she really want me dead? Why are all of these happening?

"Zo, you're awake," Stark broke me out of my thoughts. "I was so worried about you." He was in front of me right now, holding my hands in his. This is all my fault. If I didn't follow Loren, he wouldn't almost rape me and Stark wouldn't be this worried about me. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles. I put my hand to his cheek and caressed it. I felt him leaned into it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you that bad." My voice was filled with pain, pain for making him feel like this.

"Zoey, it's not your fault. The others were worried too. Heck, even Aphrodite was worried." I laughed at that and he followed along.

I felt the urge to hug him and I did. I began to sob into his chest. I let out all of my anger and pressure and my sadness when I sobbed. He holds me close to him and hugged me tight. He made me feel safe just by having me in his arms, in his embrace. Just by hugging him, my problems seem to wash away. He was my friend, my savior and he was my mate.

He cupped my cheeks and leaned his forehead towards mine. Our lips were inches apart. If I made any kind of movement, my lips would be touching his already.

"You'll be okay, Zo. Your friends believe in you. _I _do." With that, he pressed his lips to mine and we kissed.

It was heavenly. It was filled with passion and love. The only person I've kissed was Heath and Stark's a better kisser than him. While Heath is all aggressive and hard, Stark was calm and soft. The jolt that we felt just by touching each other became fireworks as we kiss. I wrapped my hands around his neck, bringing him closer to me as he wrapped his around my waist. Although we were extremely close, it wasn't close enough and Stark pulled me onto his lap. The kiss deepened and Stark licked my bottom lip, asking me permission, which I granted him access to. Our tongues weren't fighting or dancing for dominance; it was sweet and simple. It was just the way it is, _perfect._

**Sorry that this chapter is kinda short. I didn't know how to continue it and so, I decided to end it here. So, what did you guys think? Remember to leave your opinions by reviewing them. I got the next chapter all planned out so I should be writing it soon and it should be up soon too. Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope I managed to please you guys with this. So, please! Tell me what you think. It would help me out with the next few chapters. Thanks! **

**ILUVSTARK – OMG, thanks so much! :D Haha! :D I'm happy that you're obsessed with my story! It really means a lot so, thank you! :D**

**THATLOVELYBRIDE1026 – Well, you just read what happened so to answer your question… Soon. Real soon. Thank you! :D**

**JEANNE – Three Days Grace aren't so bad. **

**BARBARA – Haha! I know so. Thank you! :D**

**RACHEL – Haha! I'm glad I made you happy! Thank you! :D**

**SUMMER – Haha, thanks! It really means a lot. :D **

**MONIKA – Thanks! I was hoping this chapter could be long too but… It's not. :/ Thanks, tho!**

**SAM – Thank you for reviewing! It means a lot. :D**

**VALS – Who wouldn't be on Team Stark? Thanks for reviewing! :D**

**MEREDITH – HELL YEAH, TEAM STARK FOREVER. :D**

**Thank you, all, so much. I didn't know what to reply to some of you but I still did because it really means a lot to me and I should repay you guys by replying to your reviews. I hope that made sense. LOL. Anyway, til' next chapter! :D REVIEW! :D**


	11. The Reveal Part I

**I'm sorry I couldn't update that fast. My remedial are already starting and I have to fight for the laptop with my two brothers. Anywho… WOOO. I received lots of positive reviews for the previous chapter and I wanna thank all of you people out there. You guys motivated me to keep writing so, thank you so much. YAY! :D**

**I would like to thank MaryheartsMusic for adding my story to her Favourite Stories list and to her Story Alert subscription also, for adding _me _to her Favourite Authors list and to her Author Alert subscription. THANK YOU. I would like to thank jstarkluvr19 for adding my story to her Favourite Stories list. THANK YOU. I would like to thank lovingbites for adding my story to her Favourite Stories list and to her Story Alert subscription also, for adding _me _to her Favourite Author list and Author Alert subscription. THANK YOU. I would like to thank VampireSweet200 for adding my story to her Author Alert subscription and adding _me _to her Favourite Authors list. THANK YOU. Lastly, I would like to thank Artemis-girl123 for adding my story to her Favourite Stories list. THANK YOU. :D**

**That was a long one. So without further ado, here's the next chapter. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own everything here except for the plot and maybe, some new characters that I added or _might_ add. **

Chapter 11: The Reveal Part I

"Guys, guess what?" Erin squealed. Before we actually get the chance to answer the question, Shaunee answered for us.

"Christmas is in a few weeks!" Then both of them started jumping up and down, clapping their hands and squealing like mad on their seats. I am absolutely positive that if they keep doing that, the chair will break and they'll be falling on their asses. Not a good thing to experience when you're in the dining hall, in front of everyone.

Christmas; not my favourite occasion. Firstly, my birthday is the day before and my presents always have something to do with Christmas. Yep, seventeen years of receiving Christmas gifts as birthday presents. Sucks, huh? Since I don't want to hurt people's feelings or whatsoever, I always put up a smile and show them that I actually liked it. Besides, it could save me some money on me getting Christmas gifts for my friends and family. Also, some of the gifts are pretty cool too.

Secondly, Christmas is the time where me and my family bonds. But that has changed after mum married that douche, John. I don't know what she sees in him. Before mum married that douche, we would always visit the house that grandma bought in Vancouver a week before Christmas. It's beautiful. It's not exactly a house; it's a small cabin, enough for a whole family, and the scenery is spectacular! Our cabin is surrounded by the forest and the mountains. About a mile away, there's the sea and me and Roby always goes for a swim while Grandma Redbird watches us from a distance. One time, Roby invited grandma to join us for a swim. She was reluctant at first but then she gave up and joined us. It was the best time swim ever. But she had to get out of the water because she had a cramp on her back. Then at every night, grandma would tell us stories about the Cherokee legends. Sometimes, she told us stories about mum's childhood or the time when mum and dad were teenagers and in love. That brought a small smile to my face, thinking about those memories.

But mum _did _get married to him and his definition of 'bonding' has changed. Now, we don't go to Vancouver and visit our beautiful cabin anymore. All we do is stay home, have dinner together and watch movies or stuff like that. Thinking about that reminds me of dad, _my _dad, Roby's dad, our dad. I miss him so much.

"Hey, you okay?" Stark said, wrapping his hand around my waist and bringing me closer to him.

Ever since we shared that kiss, we have been pretty close to each other. Close enough to be in a relationship. I don't know where we stand now. I mean, we've been stealing kisses every now and then, snuggled with each other, holding hands casually…doing stuffs that couples always do. But Stark hasn't said a word or anything that could be a sign that we're in a relationship. So I don't know where we stand now but I hope we're together because I think I might be falling for him, hard. Heck, I think I might already be _in love _with him.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine." I gave him a reassuring smile. I think he bought it because he returned me his smile and kissed me on my forehead. I lay my head on his shoulder and he pulled me even closer.

Gosh, I just love how warm he is and how wonderful it is to be in his embrace. I've never felt anything like this when Heath and I were together. Heath couldn't make me feel what Stark made me feel right now. Whenever I'm with Stark, there's like a silver cord around us, pulling and entwining us together. It's like Stark is my other half and without him, I'm not complete.

"So, Zo, are you up for it?" Stevie Rae broke me out of my thoughts. I was going to answer her question but I realised that I didn't know what they were talking about.

"Up for what?" I gave them a confused look. I could see Aphrodite rolling her eyes and shaking her head in the corner of my eye while the rest of them gave me the face that said, 'you've gotta be kidding me'.

"What?" I asked again, feeling totally awkward, when they still gave me that look. Damien decided to answer for me.

"We're planning on having a Christmas party on the eve of Christmas." Damien said with a 'duh' tone.

On the eve of Christmas, that means on the day of my birthday. Sounds great, a two-in-one party. Wait, I don't even think they know when my birthday is.

"That sounds perfect! Of course, I'm up for it!" This made the Twins continue their squealing and showing their excitement.

"Seriously, if you guys keep doing that, that chair is gonna break into pieces because of your huge asses." Aphrodite said, making Jack do that cute chuckle of his and the Twins muttering to each other, 'hag from hell'.

The door opened and all eyes turned to the direction of the door to see Neferet busting in with red, puffy eyes. Her face was strained, as if she was controlling herself from shouting and getting super angry.

She walked over to out table and spoke in a calmly manner, although I knew she was trying her very best to not release her anger. "I've called a special meeting in thirty minutes. I want you to be there." Then she walked out of the dining hall, with her chin up high.

"Looks like someone put a bitch in her cereal this morning." Aphrodite muttered.

"Haven't you guys heard?" Erin said, sounding quite too proud.

"That asshole who tried to rape _our _Zo got killed last night." Shaunee continued.

_What? _Loren is dead? That's sad. But the way he sounded when he talked to me yesterday sounded like he was ready for whatever lays before him, whatever consequences he will be facing. He sounded as if he was ready to die. Wait, did he kill himself?

"Zo, you okay? You don't seem happy or so." Stark said.

"But he doesn't deserve it." I said too softly but Stark must have heard it because he started flaring up at me.

"Zoey, he tried to rape you and you pity him? He almost killed you, for crying out loud!"

"Stark…" Before I could continue, he stomped his way out of the dining hall. I felt the need to follow him and I probably should. I remembered that he wasn't there when Loren told me all those things. I should probably tell him and explain to him. I mumbled an excuse to leave the table and head out to find Stark.

It didn't take that long to find him. I just had to turn to my right when I was out of the dining hall and walk pass a room to find him leaning against the wall on the floor. His eyes were closed and I swear I could see tears spilling down his cheeks. I stood there, staring at him, feeling bad for making him feel like this before moving towards him and sitting right next to him. He knew I was there but he showed no signs of it. I brought my knees to my chest and hugged them which were quite hard since I was wearing my skinny jeans. We sat there in silence. I was thinking of a way to explain it to him. I sighed and began my explanation.

"Stark, I'm sorry." I started. It was more of a whisper, actually. He turned to face me and I got a better look of his face. I felt even worse now. He had a look of sadness on his face. I brought my hand to his cheek and caressed it and apologized again. He closed his eyes and I felt him lean in to my touch before opening them and saying something.

"You should have seen yourself. I was so worried about you. I don't think I could handle it if something bad happens to you. Zoey, I… _I love you_."

_I love you…_; the three words that could change someone's life, the three words that could change your view of something. Now, do I love him back? What the hell am I saying? Of course, I do! I have loved him the minute I look into his eyes for the first time. It was just that I didn't want to admit to myself. My love for him grew when shared that experience yesterday. I knew, too, that I couldn't live without him so… Yes. Yes, I do love him and I plan to love him forever.

He leaned away from my touch and moved a little further away from me. I winced when he did that. I guess my silence gave the answer of not loving him back. I dropped my hands back to my side and spoke but was stopped by him.

"I'm sorry; I guess it's a little too early." I could hear the hurt in his voice and I would do anything to get rid of it and I knew my next words would.

I moved closer to him and lay my head on his chest while hugging him and whispered, "I love you too, Stark.". I smiled when I said those words. It felt right. It felt perfectly right. I looked up and Stark looked astonished. I leaned him and gave him a soft kiss that soon heated up.

I got too carried away with the kiss that I forgot about my aim to follow him out here, which is to tell him about what Loren said. I'm sure the whole gang wanted to hear this too so I figured we should go back to the dining hall and tell them.

"Come on, I've got to tell you and the gang something." I said, standing up then pulling him up on his feet.

We walked back to see the Twins and Aphrodite arguing over something. I shook my head and gave a frustrated sigh and moved quickly to the table. Do these two know that they're attracting attention from the whole room?

"Could you guys ever go a minute without actually insulting each other? What are you…like five?"

The Twins mumbled 'sorry' while Aphrodite scoffed and flipped her hair back with her hand, typical Aphrodite. I shook my head and faced the rest of the table. I guess it's time for me to tell them everything. I opened my mouth to speak but the bell rang, indicating that it's time for classes and we had to leave for the Council Meeting. I sighed and promise to tell them later.

All of us got up. Stark and Jack went in separate ways since they were not part of it and I felt a missing piece in my heart when I got separated with Stark. I sighed again and walked to the Council Room with the rest of them. I'll be able to see him later.

The Council Room that was opposite the library was filled with vamps and Sons of Erebus. Darius was positioning himself beside the door by the time we got in and I saw Aphrodite giving him a big flirty smile. I rolled my eyes when I saw Darius eyes sparkled in response of her flirting. It was quite obvious that something was going on between them.

I glanced around the table. Aphrodite and I was sitting to Damien's right and beside Aphrodite was Prof. Lenobia, talking to Dragon and Prof. Anastasia Lankford who were right beside her. The Council was made up of the powerful members in the school's faculty. I didn't even know most of the Professors here since I'd never been in their classes. The biggest person, human, or vamp that was sitting on a chair that was situated near the door caught my eye. Damn, he was _massive_. Aphrodite leaned over and whispered to me, "That's Ate, the leader of the Sons of Erebus. Darius told me he was coming today. He's one massive hunk, huh?"

I wanted to respond to Aphrodite but then the door opened and Neferet entered. Just like just now, her eyes were still red and puffy but she seem even calmer that just now. Could be crying over Loren's death? Whoa, did they have some kind of relationship or something? I mean, she couldn't be crying this hard for a professor. She stood in the end of the table and faced us. She glanced at all of us, my face the last one she looked at. In fact, she actually glared at me. Hold up, what's up that? She took a deep breath before speaking as if it was hard for her to speak the next few words.

"As many of you heard, we lost a professor last night. He…was Professor Loren Blake." When she said his name, she closed her eyes and regained her composure. "His death was no accident," She continued. Then she held up a note. I couldn't see what was on it but I knew it must be something big. "The People of Faith were the ones to kill him." Her voice was full of venom.

"How?" Lenobia asked. She sounded sad, actually.

"Apparently, he left the House of Night's compounds for personal reasons and got too careless. In the end, the People of Faith spotted him and killed him instantly."

I looked around the table and saw the emotions on their faces. The professors were all feeling sad and were grieving over his death but the Dark Daughters and Sons were showing negative emotions. I could see the Twins face sprained with anger and Aphrodite with satisfaction. Damien and Stevie Rae were the ones who weren't showing any emotion. As for me, I knew he didn't deserve any of this.

"We cannot let this happen again. A fledging was killed a few months back because a human boy killed him. Last night, the same thing happened. A human killed one of our kinds, again. We need to end this and we need to end this fast." Her voice was filled with determination and power.

"And how do you suggest we end this?" A professor that I didn't know stood up and asked Neferet before taking his seat again.

"We will have a war with them. If it's a war they want, it's a war they will get." I felt the hair on my hands and on the back of my neck stand. She sounded like the evil witch in the movie, Narnia.

Just then, the door opened again and a lady came in followed by a few Sons of Erebus. As they sighted her, the shock that zapped through the vamps was immediate and obvious. The Sons of Erebus were the first to be on their feet, but was soon followed by the rest of the Council. Damien, the Twins, Aphrodite, Stevie Rae and I stood and mimicked the vamps' respectful closed fists over their hearts and bowed heads.

I took a look at the new vamp. She is tall and thin, with mahogany skin. It was smooth and flawless, marred only by the intricate tattoo of her sapphire Mark, which was the exact shape of the Goddess figure which all adult vampyres have embroidered on their breast pocket. Her hair was impossibly long and it was shining black silk. She had large, dark almond shaped-eyes, a long, straight nose and full lips. She held her chin up, like a queen, as she walked over to where Neferet is.

"Priestess, what a surprise to see you here." Neferet bowed her head, to make herself look respectful towards the Priestess. But to me, the movement was more of a forced thing. Wait, did she just call the lady, priestess?

I looked over to Damien with my brows together, showing him that I had completely no idea who the lady was. He rolled his eyes before writing something down on a paper. He tilted the paper so I could read and it says: SHEKINAH = HIGH PRISTESS OF _ALL _VAMPS. My eyes widen and I looked back at Shekinah again. No wonder she had this kind of power and respect from the vamps and the Sons of Erebus.

"Merry meet." She had an accent that I couldn't place it very well. It sounded Middle Eastern, or maybe British, but not. It made her voice as rich as her skin and it filled the entire room.

"Merry meet." We all automatically responded.

"I didn't mean to be rude but I overheard Neferet saying that she's planning on having war with the humans," Then she turned to face her. "Is this correct?" Neferet just nodded her head. Shekinah smiled and spoke again.

"I was at the House of Night Chicago when the news of Professor Loren's death reached me. If I were at home in Venice, it would have reached me too late for me to act upon. Besides, this death could not have been prevented."

"What do you mean?" Neferet spoke up.

"I know I am too late since his already dead, and it makes my heart heavy, but I am not too late to prevent any more deaths." She paused before saying her next words, slowly and distinctly, "There will be no more between humans and vampyres."

All hell broke loose with Neferet. She snapped her head towards Shekinah and spoke with such anger. She's on her verge of her breaking point but she controlled it, knowing that it is the High Priestess of all vamps that she was talking to.

"So, that's it? No war? You're just going to let them go unpunished for their crimes against us?"

The debate between them kept going on for the next twenty minutes. Neferet voice rose as she spoke but Shekinah's voice was calm and in a soft, conversational tone, but I felt the power in her voice. In the end, Shekinah concluded that Neferet's action of following her desires instead of the Council's was, indeed, unfair of her. Neferet apologized before leaving the room, looking utterly distraught.

"A human detective will be contacted and everything else will resume tomorrow. Let today's classes be cancelled."

"Priestess, we are all willing for classes to resume, but who will take over Loren's class?" Lenobia spoke up.

"Lenobia, my dear, it is lovely to see you again," Shekinah said familiarly.

"It is always a joy to greet you, Priestess." Lenobia bowed her head, causing her unusual silver-blond hair to sweep around her like a delicate veil.

"That is, indeed, another reason I would like to remain here. While Neferet is herself again, I would like to take over Professor Loren's classes."

We all made little bows to her.

"And if there are no more questions" – she paused, her eyes glancing around us – "or comments, I would adjourn this Council Meeting. I will be holding a school wide Ritual of Cleansing in the next couple of days. I felt grief and fear when I came within these walls tonight, and only Nyx's blessing can lift such heaviness." Several of the members nodded their heads in agreement.

"I wish you all blessed be," she said formally.

"Blessed be," we responded.

Shekinah smiled again. With a swift motion of her hand, she gestured for Lenobia and Ate to follow her, and the three of them left the room.

We wait until the Council Room emptied to leave the room. We were heading towards the dining hall when Stevie Rae reminded me something.

"Hey, Zo, you said there was something you needed to tell us?"

I face-palmed myself before answering. "Oh, right! Tell you what, you guys meet in me and Stevie Rae's room while I got get Stark and Damien will go get Jack. Is that okay?"

Everyone nodded their head and walked to our room. I headed to Stark's room since I know he'll be there while Damien headed to the library to get him since Jack said he'll be in the library.

When I reached the door to his dorm room, it was slightly ajar. I peeked through the empty space to see what he was doing. He was on his bed, facing me, and sleeping. Gosh, he's so adorable when he sleeps. An idea popped in my head and I just came up with the best way to wake him up.

I slowly opened the door, making sure it doesn't make any sounds or anything, and tip-toed quietly into the room. If I am going to make my plan work, I have to make sure he doesn't wake up. I slowly walked over to his bed and sat on the ground beside him. In this position, our faces were facing each other. I got a closer look of his face and smiled.

Is this what it feels like to be in love? You seem to notice every little detail about him even though it's not relevant. When they're with you, your heart races, when they touch you, you get butterflies in your stomach, and when they kiss you, it just takes your breath away. When they're not with you, you're always thinking about being together with that person because you need him. And you just can't wipe the smile of your face because it's as if you've been touched by an angel. Does being in love make you feel that you're on top of the world?

I brushed my fingers against Stark's features. I started with his eyes, then moved down to his nose and finally, to his lips. He stirred as I touched his lips but he was still asleep. As I keep brushing my fingers against his lips, he spoke.

"Zoey…"

At first, I thought he was awake but he's not. He's dreaming about me? He's dreaming about me! I wonder what that dream was about. I leaned forwards slowly, making sure he's still asleep and put my lips against him and kiss him. It was kinda hard because I had to tilt my head to the side. Soon, I could feel him kissing me back and I knew he was awake but he still had his eyes closed. He deepened the kiss and the next thing I knew, my back was on the floor and he was on top of me, still kissing me.

His hands were trapping my hands above my head but slowly, his grip loosened and his hands moved to my hips. I wrapped my hands around his neck and brought him closer to me. I can never get enough of him. He moved his hands up and down the sides of my body while I intertwined my hands in his hair. I love the feel of his hair. It was all so soft and…_perfect. _He was about to take my top off when I felt my butt vibrating. It was my phone.

I pulled away from him and got the phone out from my back pocket. It was Stevie Rae. I answered the phone.

"Zoey, what's taking you so long?"

I wanted to answer her but it was kinda hard when Stark was kissing my neck sexily and I couldn't help but moan out his name.

"Mmmmh, _Stark…_" Wrong move.

"Zoey Redbird, are you and Stark getting all hot and heavy?" Stevie Rae went into her mother mode. This is not good.

"I want you guys to get yo' asses here in five minutes or I'll go ballistic and you don't wanna see me go ballistic." Then she hung up with a sigh.

Stark chuckled again and moved away from my neck to face me. My hands were still wrapped around his neck.

"I've always dreamed of being woken up like this."

"Oh, yeah? So that's what you were dreaming about just now when you said my name in your sleep?"

I knew I got him because his face turned red and he looked embarrassed. I couldn't hold it in anymore, I burst out laughing.

"You heard that?" He asked shyly.

"Yes, yes, I did." I said after I could control my laughter. "Come on, Stevie Rae's waiting for us. She's going all ballistic if we don't get there."

"Oh, that's _bad_." Stark pulled me up and we ran to the girls' dorm, holding hands.

As we reached the room, everyone was already settled in, even Jack and Damien. I glanced around the faces in the room and didn't spot Aphrodite. That was strange. I remembered telling her to meet here too.

"Hey, where's Aphrodite?" I said while walking to my bed and sitting on it. Stark followed me and put his hand around my waist.

"Oh, she had some _business _to do with Darius." Jack said.

"It is pretty obvious that something is going on between them." I said.

"Yeah, like nothing's going on between you and Stark." The Twins giggled and I felt my cheeks burning.

"Shut up." I threw a pillow at them and they stopped. Stark was chuckling.

"What do you want to tell us, Zoey?" Damien spoke up. He was sitting on the ground, beside Jack. They were sitting in the same position as Stark and I.

"Remember when Loren came up to my room yesterday?" I started. They all nodded their heads and I continued.

"Well, he told me something, something very important." And that was my cue to start telling them everything he told me about Neferet. I didn't tell them about me specializing in all five elements. I decided to keep that the last.

"So, Neferet really is going crazy, huh?" Damien concluded.

"Well, there's more…" I continued.

"Go on, then." Damien urged.

I remembered the electric jolts I'd felt during the casting of both circles, and how the elements had seemed to sizzle through my body, and also how I had forced myself to stay in the circle and not join Aphrodite in the casting.

"Loren told me that I might have and affinity for all five elements."

"What? How is that possible?"

"I do know that I have an affinity for air because I used air to push Loren off of me. But when the circle was being cast that time, I felt hot when fire is being called and a breeze when wind's being called and smelled rain with water and felt grass under my feet with earth."

All of them looked at me, wide-eyed.

"Just last week in Soc class we were studying about the most famous vamp High Priestess in history. There hasn't been a priestess with an affinity for all four of the elements for hundreds of years." Stevie Rae spoke.

"Five," I said miserably.

"All five!" Erin exclaimed.

"You felt something with spirit, too!" Shaunee continued.

"I…I think so."

"Well? Cast a circle and see if you actually have an affinity for the other four!" Stark exclaimed.

"Alrighty, then. Erin, Shaunee?" Damien called out.

"Yeah," the Twins said together.

"Go get some candles and meet us back in here."

"Wait, wait, wait. In _here?_ What if someone catches us?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that. Who would wanna come here when it's lunch time?" Stevie Rae said.

"Oh, right," I responded. "Shaunee, Erin! What are you waiting for? Go get 'em candles!"

About fifteen minutes later, Shaunee and Erin returned with the candles. They hid them in their purses. Shaunee pulled out green, yellow and blue votives in correspondingly coloured thick glass cups while Erin pulled out a red and purple votive in the same kind of coloured containers.

"Everybody, get into your positions. Stark, Jack, stay out of the circle. Zoey, you're spirit." Damien instructed.

"Wait!" Stark suddenly said, which gave me a shock, I almost jumped at my spot.

"Stark! Don't just randomly shout out! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, baby." Then he gave me a kiss on the cheek. "You guys might want to need this." He pulled out a lighter from his back pocket of his jeans.

Stark smokes?

"Oh, right. Thanks." I took the lighter from his hand and gave him a quick peck on the lips before moving to the middle of the circle.

Sighing, I lit the purple candle. "Ready?" I asked the four of them.

"Ready!" They said together.

Without wasting any more time, I smiled excitedly and carried the candle over to Damien. I took a deep breath and called out the elements.

"Air is everywhere, so it only makes sense that it is the first element to be called into the circle. I ask that you hear me, air, and I summon you to this circle." I lit Damien's yellow candle with my purple one and watched as the flame began to flicker crazily. I instantly felt the wind brush through me and Damien, lifting our hair and surrounding us. My smile grew wider as I watched Damien's eyes get big and round and startled-looking.

I walked over to Shaunee and she raised her candle eagerly and said, "Bring it on!"

"Fire reminds me of cold winter nights and the warmth and safety of the fireplace that heats my grandma's cabin. I ask you hear me, fire, and I summon you to this circle." I lit the red candle and the flame blazed, much brighter than it should have. The air around me and Shaunee was suddenly filled with rich, woody scent and homey warmth of a roaring fireplace.

Erin was ginning and giggling softly when I took my place in front her. "I'm ready for water," she said quickly.

"Water is relief on a hot Oklahoma summer day. It's the amazing ocean that I really would like to see someday, and it's the rain that makes the lavender grow. I ask that you hear me, water, and I summon you to the circle."

I lit the blue candle and felt instant coolness against my skin. I closed my eyes and took in the smell of a clean, salty scent that could only be the ocean I'd never seen.

"That's amazing, Zo! You manifested three elements!" Stevie Rae said when I stood in front of her.

"Well, let's see if I can manifest earth." I replied back, feeling light-headed. Then I focused my mind on the fourth element, earth. "Earth supports and surrounds us. We wouldn't be anything without her. I ask that you hear me, earth, and I summon you to this circle." I lit the green candle easily, and suddenly both of us were overwhelmed with the sweet scent of freshly cut grass. From outside, I could hear the leaves of the trees rustling.

"Cool," Stevie Rae breathed.

I walked to the center of the circle and lifted my purple candle.

"The last element is one that fills everything and everyone. It makes us unique and it breathes life into all things. I ask that you hear me, spirit, and I summon you to this circle."

Incredibly, it seemed that I was suddenly surrounded by the four elements, that I was in a middle of a whirlpool made up of air and fire, water and earth. It wasn't scary at all. In fact, I felt peace and had to keep my lips tightly together from screaming and jumping around in joy.

"That makes five," Damien breathed in awe.

"What the hell, no way!" I exclaimed and that made everyone in the room laugh.

I looked at Stark and he was looking proudly. I gave him a thumbs-up and he winked at me.

I thanked each element and sent them away like how Neferet and Aphrodite did and closed the circle by saying, "Blessed be."

"Blessed be," They responded happily.

Just then, the door to the room opened and Aphrodite stood there, looking depressed. We were still in the position we were in when we casted the circle and she must have realized that we were casting a circle because she mumbled a 'sorry' then ran away from the door.

"What's wrong with her?" Stevie Rae asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, you guys. I'll go after her and find out." I said then went out through the door. I went for her room since that's the first place I could think of.

I stood in front of her door, my hands up and ready to knock, when I heard someone sniffing and sobbing in the room. I got worried and went in.

"Aphrodite?" I called out. What I saw was well… I didn't like what I saw.

**Alright, I hope that's a good cliffhanger. Again, sorry I couldn't update that fast. It's December and I'm getting busy these days and my two brothers kept using the laptop and I had to fight for it. Okay so… I wrote this chapter while listening to Foster the People's album, Torches. My mum bought me tickets to see them live next year! :D It'll be my first concert ever. LOL. **

**Alright, remember to review. I need some inspirations and ideas! :D REVIEW.**

**KLARA – Thank you! I'm glad you loved it. :D**

**EMILIE – Thank you so much. I think they're really soul mates too. **

**MONIKA – Hahaha! Yeap, that dude is finally dead. Thank you! :D**

**SAM – I'm trying my best to make a longer chapter but I keep having a block, which is hard for me to write longer chapters. I'm sorry this chapter isn't that long. **

**MEREDITH – Haha! I know right! :D Thanks! :D**

**SUMMER – Wow. Obsessed? Thank you so much! :D**

**JEANNE – My favourite band? I think that would be Foster the People. But I like the Strokes too. Man, this is hard. Haha! Anyway, thank you! :D**

**VALS – I mean, you guys reviewed! It's the nicest thing I could do besides updating fast. **

**HON – Thank you so much! I love them too! :D**

**Once again, thank you so much to all of you and don't forget to review. I'll try to update faster and make the next chapter a long one. Haha! REVIEW! :D**


	12. The Reveal Part II

**I feel like most of my chapters don't make sense. LOL.**

**We're almost hitting the 100 mark! Woooo! Thanks, you guys! :D**

**I wanna thank babe its nothing personal for adding my story to her Story Alert Subscription list. I like your Penname. It's really cool. THANK YOU. :D I would also like to thank ALECVOLTURILOVER25252525 for adding my story to her Favourite Story list and to her Story Alert Subscription and also for adding me to her Author Alert Subscription. Thank you! :D**

**Moving on, here's the moment you've all been waiting for. You'll find out what's wrong with Aphrodite in this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it and don't forget! REVIEW! It makes my day better. :D**

**DISCLAIMER: Do I need to repeat this in every chapter?**

Chapter 12: The Reveal Part II

_Previously…_

_I stood in front of her door, my hands up and ready to knock, when I heard someone sniffing and sobbing in the room. I got worried and went in._

_"Aphrodite?" I called out. What I saw was well… I didn't like what I saw._

x**X**x

Aphrodite was sitting on her bed, her knees brought up to her chest, and her hands placed by the side of her ears as if she was blocking her ears from hearing something. Her eyes were closed tightly and she was crying. It was a one loud cry, followed by a period of breath holding; she was crying in pain. My instinct kicked in and I rushed to her side on the bed. I brought her to my arms and began stroking her hair and whispering soothing words in her ear in order to calm her down. Well, it wasn't working because her cries got louder and she was more in pain. I got even more worried and scared for her. _Oh, poor Aphrodite. _I thought to myself. What could have caused her this much pain? When she opened her eyes to look at me, I got my answer.

"_Goddess, Aphrodite!_" I gasped.

Her eyes were bloody; bloody as in it's filled with blood and not as in bloodshot eyes. Her tears were in blood too. She was breathing hard, then. I grew more panicked. I got up from the bed and search frantically for a towel in her room. I found a green Esprit washcloth in her closet and went to her bathroom to wet it under the tap in her sink. I was thankful that every dorm room has a bathroom each and that we don't have to share the showers with the other fledgings like other normal schools. That's the thing; _this _isn't a normal school at all. And Aphrodite being super rich and the daughter of the Mayor, she has her own bathtub in her toilet. I know, right?

After wetting the towel and rinsing it thoroughly, I went out of her bathroom and saw Aphrodite crouching on the floor, her eyes still bloody and filled with tears, and mumbling and begging for someone to help her make it stop. I quickly grabbed the bottle of water that was on her dressing table and went to Aphrodite's side. By now, she was whimpering in pain and not crying anymore but her eyes were still filled with blood. I brought her up to her feet and carefully lay her down on her bed. She was sobbing softly. I used her green Esprit towel and wiped away the blood from her eyes then I put my arm behind her back to bring her up a bit and let her drink the water that I grabbed just now. She finished drinking the entire bottle and I let her lay down again. Slowly, her eyes closed and she soon drifted to sleep. I sighed and looked at the clock that was situated on the wall. It was almost time for dinner. My phone vibrated, signaling that someone was calling me. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Stark. I smiled just looking at his name.

"Hey." I greeted him once I answered his call.

"Zo, is everything alright? You've been with Aphrodite for almost an hour now and we're going to have dinner soon." I love it when he worries about me because it shows that he truly cares about me - which was really sweet of him - although it can be annoying sometimes.

"Yeah, she's having a breakdown and I'm helping her right now. She's sleeping now but I'm sure she'll be up soon and I'll talk to her." I said while trying to stifle a yawn. How can I not get tired? I heard the news of Loren's death today, met the High Priestess of all vamps during the Council Meeting and also, I found out that I could manifest all five elements which has never happened in a really, really, really long time in vampyre history. So of course, I'm feeling tired and stressed right now and Neferet's dark intentions adding more to it.

"You sound kinda tired, Zo. You sure you wanna stay up and wait for her? We could ask Stevie Rae or the Twins." I heard the Twins chocking, listening to Stark's idea, in the background and chuckled.

"Stark, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Go have some dinner with the rest. I'll be leaving soon, 'kay?"

"Alright," Stark sighed in defeat. "I'll go to Aphrodite's room if I think you've been there long enough, okay?" He continued before I spoke up, "And no, you won't stop me."

I smiled again before saying, "Alright, alright. You'll come here when you think I've spent too much time here."

I was going to end the call but Stark's voice stopped me. "Zoey?"

"Yeah?" I answered.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Stark." Then he ended the call.

I smiled, thinking about me and Stark together. I just couldn't get him off of my mind. I could feel my smile turning into a goofy grin when relieving moments we shared together in my head. I've fallen in love with Stark in a short amount of time. You meet someone new, immediately you feel something for this person. They create a spark in you. You feel as if you have known them for a long time. They have the right face, the right hair, the right smell, the right laugh. You can't quite put your finger on it but you know you do not want to let this person out of your life and I don't intend of letting Stark out of my life. He's my everything right now.

Aphrodite is going to be asleep for awhile so I decided to take a look at her room. I mean, what can you do right now? I saw some pictures on her dressing table and decided to take a look at her pictures. There were pictures of her and the gang together, pictures of her when she was human and one that caught my eye. It was a picture of her parents, the mayor and his wife. Her dad was quite dashing. He has a face the shape of an oval, and a ruddy complexion. His eyes were like Aphrodite's; cold blue and round. His golden-blond hair was gelled like Adam Levine from Maroon 5. Her mother was extremely pretty. Now I see where she got her looks from. Her mother was brown-eyed with a round face and a rosy complexion. Her hair was layered like Eva Longoria and she was a brunette, which was quite surprising since Aphrodite was a blond.

Speaking of Aphrodite, she began to stir in her sleep. I placed the picture back onto the table and went to her. Her hands were by her side and she was gripping the sheets hard. She was frowning in her sleep. Under her eyelids, I could see her eyes moving like she was watching a ping-pong match with her eyes closed. I gently shook her to wake her up. She eyes shot opened and she looked scared, like a lost little girl finding her parents in a huge and crowded shopping mall.

"Aphrodite? It's okay, it's just me." I reassured her.

When she heard my voice, she looked at me and her face softened and relaxed. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh of relief before opening them and sat up on her bed. She looked disturb, like something was bothering her and I was beginning to wonder if she actually had a vision just now. I've never seen her have a vision before. That time in her room was the aftermath of her vision so I'm not sure myself.

"Aphrodite, what happened?" I questioned my thoughts to her.

She hesitated before answering, "I had a vision but…it's never like this before."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"My eyes weren't supposed to be filled with blood and it wasn't supposed to feel this hurtful."

"You wanna tell me what it's about?" I asked her. She went thoughtful about it so I decided to add some more, "Maybe we can figure out why it's like that?"

She thought about it for a moment and sighed in defeat and answered me, "I guess I probably should."

She shifted in her bed to make herself feel comfortable and began telling me her vision, starting from the beginning.

_Aphrodite's POV_

Zoey happened to stop by in my room when I was having one of my visions. Thank goddess she did because this time, my vision hurt like _fuck_. And boy was it fucking scary too. All I could see was red, red and just fucking red. I only realised that my eyes were bloody when I could taste my own blood in my mouth and tasting your own blood is not cool at all. Like, not cool _at all_.

I looked at Zoey who was staring at me with a worried expression on her face. She was sitting in front of me on my bed. Looking at her reminded me of the not-so-good vision that I had just now. I hope it actually doesn't happen because if it did, I don't think life would be fun and happy anymore. I'm beginning to think of her as my friend. I'd rather experience this bloody vision than admitting it, though.

Having Zoey this close to me made me feel the guilt I have been holding even more. It's not like I had a choice, either. If I didn't do what she told me to do, I would put the lives of my friends and family in danger. Yes, the nerd herd included and I'm starting to think that they're my friends because I have no one else. I'm even having a dorm room to myself. So you could probably say that I am feeling alone and so lonely. Again, I didn't want to admit it because it would be my weakness and I don't like to show my weakness. That's who I am, I have to act all tough and strong and mean just to cover up whom I really am inside because I didn't want to be judged by society. Well, society's fucked.

Zoey is still waiting for me to tell her about the vision and I was hoping she could let it go because I didn't want to tell her since it involved _her_ and it was pretty bad, but having being threatened to do so by that bitch, I had to tell her.

"Okay…" I started. While I told her, the vision was pictured in my mind and I can't really seem to stop it from replaying it all over again in my head.

_It was in the middle of the night, and there was a brilliant moon shining above the huge old oaks that shaded everything. There was something different about the atmosphere. Instead of the protected and safe atmosphere, it was more of a dangerous and scary atmosphere. _

_I was standing behind the huge oak tree, hiding. From behind the tree that I was hiding from, I saw Zoey and the nerd-herd standing in a straight line facing something or someone to be exact. It was as if they were preparing for a war. I followed their gazes and saw Neferet standing there, beside Kalona, looking much beautiful and powerful than ever. Behind them was a flock of what was described as a raven mocker; the eyes and limbs of a man but a body of a raven. What was going on?_

_And then something clicked in my brain. It's happening. Neferet is making it happening. Once I realised her intentions, my eyes grew wide and I charged forward to stop Neferet. She can't do it. No, she can't! Even though it's my vision, I could still make it change, right? Well, that's what I thought. When I charged forward, I was blocked by an invisible wall, preventing me from stopping Neferet and causing me to slam right into the invisible wall._

"_NO! Neferet! Stop! You can't do this! NEFERET, STOP IT! PLEASE!" I screamed from the top of my lungs and banged on the invisible wall, hoping that it would crash and fall apart so that I could stop her._

"_Aphrodite, my child, they can't hear nor see you." I turned around in the direction of the voice to see Nyx standing there, looking calm and awe-inspiring as always._

"_Just watch and listen." was what she said. I turned around again and did what I was told to do. I watched and listened._

_Zoey began charging forward, followed by the rest of the nerd herd and so did Neferet, Kalona and the raven mockers. Next think you knew they were battling. Stark using his bow and arrows, the gang using their elements and Jack using his fighting skills which I didn't know he had._

_Zoey has her attention on Neferet, oblivious to her surroundings, which means she wasn't aware of one of the raven mockers charging towards her, prepared to attack her._

"_Zoey, watch out!" I shouted and tried to run towards her but couldn't because of the stupid invisible wall._

_The raven mocker bit her neck, making her scream. She fell to the ground, almost headless and all I could do was see the life disappear from her eyes. I felt my eyes burning from the tears that have been escaping, and then the pain hit me. My head started to hurt like fuck and I fell on my knees, clutching my head, begging for somebody, anybody, to make it stop. I felt someone pulling me up and I gave in to the darkness._

"So… I'm going to…die?" Zoey whispered softly and because of our strong sense of hearing, I could hear what she said. She muttered something under her breath which was kinda hard for me to make out. Then, as if the vision about her death didn't have an effect to her at all, she looked up at me like she had an idea and one of those light bulb would lit up above her head.

"Have you ever had a vision about someone's death before?" She asked me.

I thought about all the visions that I could remember and realised that none of them were visions of someone's death. I knew where she was going. "No," I replied.

"Maybe that's why your eyes were filled with blood and you felt that kind of pain?" Zoey suggested. "It's possible," she continued, sounding like she was talking to herself.

Zoey's head shot up and she looked at me again, wide-eyed. "What?" I said sounding quite scared because that expression on her face is really scary.

"You said that it's happening. What's happening?"

"Oh, shit. I've said too much," I muttered to myself.

"Aphrodite, what is it?" Zoey demanded.

"You're not supposed to know! Ah, shit! I've screwed things up!" I blurted out.

_Zoey's POV_

Aphrodite stood up from her bed and began pacing back and forth in her room. She looked scared and even more disturbed now. Something was troubling her and I knew that she knew something about what Neferet was planning. I had to get it out of her. I had to. I _need _to. It could be a great help to all these dreams that Nyx are giving me and the information that we've found out.

"Aphrodite, just tell me. If it's something to do with Neferet then you can tell me. It'd be a great help to the problems, you know!" I tried to coax her into telling me.

Aphrodite stopped in her tracks, facing the bathroom door and hesitated for a moment. She tsked and turned to look at me. I gave her a comfort look, a look that assures her that she could trust me and we could go through this together. Aphrodite bit her lip and gave me a thoughtful look. She sat back on her bed and began.

"The rise. It's happening soon. She's gonna make him rise soon." She started.

"The rise? Wh-what rise?" I asked curiously.

"Kalona," she breathed out the word. Then she went back to her normal self by saying, "Now, could you please excuse me. I need a bottle of wine."

I was about to ask her where she could get a bottle of wine but then she opened the drawer to her nightstand and pulled out, indeed, a bottle of wine. I decided to leave her room before she gets even crankier.

As I walked back to my dorm room, I thought about Aphrodite's words. _The rise… It's happening soon. Kalona… _What does she mean by that? I kept trying to put the pieces together in my head that I didn't realise my phone was vibrating for a while. I answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Zoey, are you done?" It was Stark.

"Yeah, I'm on my way to my room now."

"Perfect. See you there!" Then he hung up on me.

See you there? It's almost curfew, don't tell me he's troubling himself by meeting me at my dorm room a few minutes before curfew. Boy was I right. Once I reached there, I saw Stark leaning against the wall beside the door, his arms in his pocket, looking as sexier than ever.

"Stark, you know it's almost curfew." I told him once I stood in front of him.

"What? I can't meet my girlfriend in front of her room?" He replied with his cocky grin. I scoffed at him but then realization hit me.

"Girlfriend?" I asked.

"Well, if you wanna…" He left the sentence open nervously.

"Girlfriend…" I muttered to myself. "I like the sound of that." Then I leaned in and kiss him full on the lips.

The kiss was better than the last. He licked my bottom lip and I granted him access into my mouth and that's where the dominance of our tongue began. My hands that were just now by my sides wrapped around his neck, bringing him closer to me. I could feel Stark's arm around my waist, bringing me closer as if we weren't close enough, but we were so close, so close that we can't get even closer. Before he could deepen the kiss even more, I pulled away from him.

"Stark?" I called out his name.

"Hmm?" When he said that, it caused a tingling vibration to my neck which made me shivered because he was snuggling at my neck.

"Do you smoke?" I asked, suddenly remembering about the lighter just now.

He pulled away from my neck to look at me and smiled.

"I used to. I quitted a few months back but you know…just in case."

"Oh." was all I said.

He leaned in closer and kissed me again. This went on for about five minutes and I knew we would be in trouble and anyone caught us.

"Stark, it's already curfew. You need to get back to your room." I said as I pulled away from him. He pouted and I laughed.

"Alright, see you tomorrow, babe." He leaned him and pecked my lips.

"Goodnight, boyfriend," I said to him then entered my room and closed the door behind me. I swear I heard him laughed lightly.

I shut the door and leaned against it, grinning goofily at how Stark and I were in a relationship now. I skipped happily to my bed although it took only about 8 steps to reach it and pulled out my guitar from the case. I could hear the showers running which means that Stevie Rae is in the showers. I did an F chord on my guitar and began strumming while singing at the same time.

"_Oo la love, I've fallen in love, and it's better this time than ever before,_" Then I changed the chord to an A-minor after I did a G chord and continued singing. "_Oo la love, I've fallen in love, and it's better this time than I've ever known_."

I repeated the same thing for I don't know how long. Stevie Rae got out of the showers, wearing her cute pink pajamas, with her towel over her shoulders so that her wet hair won't drench her clothes and with a big smile plastered on her face. I didn't stop playing however. I looked at Stevie Rae and played as if the song was dedicated to her, but of course it was for Stark.

"_I have fallen in love… I have fallen in love…_" I ended the song.

Stevie Rae clapped and cheered for me like she was my biggest fan and it was very cute of her. She giggled and I followed along after a while. I placed my guitar behind me and faced Stevie Rae, the smile never faded away. **(A/N: Ooh, that rhymed! :D) **

"What's got you all cheery tonight?" Stevie Rae asked after our laughter broke down.

"Stark just asked me to be his girlfriend!" Stevie Rae squealed and hugged me tightly.

"You said yes, did you?"

"Stevie Rae! Of course I did say yes!"

Stevie Rae hugged me and congratulated me. In that moment, I forgot about what Aphrodite told me and about all the other bad things. We spent the next hour chatting away like old best friends before we fell asleep. Little did I know, bad things were starting to happen…

_Stark's POV_

"Goodnight, boyfriend," Zoey said to me before disappearing and entering her dorm room. I laughed lightly hearing her calling me her boyfriend.

_Oh, the little things she does to me. _I thought to myself. Zoey does not know the effect she has on people, on her friends, on _me. _I wanted to show the whole world that Zoey was finally mine. I wanted to laugh and jump and dance around in happiness. I was the luckiest man on earth right now. I was afraid of what her reaction would be when I called her my girlfriend. _My girlfriend… _I smiled at that thought.

I was thinking about Zoey and only Zoey when Darius suddenly broke me out of my thoughts by calling my name.

"Hey, Darius. What's up?" I asked him.

"Neferet wants to see you." Then he hurried away awkwardly.

"O...kay," I muttered to myself.

I walked a dreadful walk to Neferet's office.

_Third Person's POV_

The girl stood outside of Neferet's office doors. Her hands shaking, afraid of knocking the door and going in. She took deep breaths. _I can do this. It's for my friends, for my family. _Once she was ready, she knocked on the door confidently.

"Come in!" The girl shivered at the sound of Neferet's loud and booming voice.

The doors opened and in she went. She stood right in front of Neferet's desk, waiting for Neferet to look up from the all of her paperwork. Her breathing was increasing every second. Neferet sensed a figure standing in front of her and looked up from her paperwork.

"Ah, it's you. I'm thinking you've already did as I ask?" The way Neferet said her sentence was more of a question.

Feeling scared and nervous, the blond could only nod her head. Neferet smirked, satisfied that her plan was going well and smooth. She went back to her paperwork. Neferet realised that the blond was still standing there, scared and nervous.

"Well? Leave!" Her voice was harsh and cold.

The girl scurried away quickly and Neferet laughed, thinking of her as a meaningless little girl. There was another knock on the door and Neferet sighed in frustration. _What do these people want?_

"Come in!" Neferet shouted again, annoyed clearly evident in her voice.

The doors opened and Stark walked in bravely and annoyed of her as well. Neferet suddenly remembered the reason why she told Darius to call in Stark. She smirked again, happy that her plan was really working.

"Stark… Take a seat." Neferet changed the tone of her voice to a sweet and motherly tone but Stark knew better. He knew that all of these were just an act. Stark rolled his eyes in great annoyance and took a seat on the chair in front of her.

"I heard that you and Zoey are well…very, very close." Neferet knew about Stark's relationship with Zoey. Heck, she even knew that they were soulmates.

"Why do you care?" Stark rebelled. All he wanted to do was just to get out of this place and go back to his dorm room so that he could sleep and dream of Zoey.

"Stark, you cannot let your talent go to waste." Neferet started.

Hearing that, Stark had enough. He just couldn't take it anymore! Every time he meets up with Neferet, she'll go talking about his past and his shooting which he didn't want to be reminded anymore. He's been controlling for a long time and now, he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Listen, Neferet. I don't want anything to do with shooting anymore. I made that clear the moment I got here." His voice was cold and Neferet was definitely amused.

"Stark, I just need your help and it requires you to shoot," Neferet said still keeping her cool.

Stark wanted to open his mouth to speak but Neferet stopped him.

"I'm almost done," she said and then continued. "If you don't…help me, I can make you and your friends' life very easy or…a living hell." Neferet said with smugness.

"I'm not following." Stark said as his anger increased.

Neferet began telling him about the help that she needs and the threat he will get if he doesn't accept it. Stark's face paled as Neferet keeps talking and Neferet's smile widen with satisfaction. Of course, she would do whatever it takes to get what she wants.

"Fine…" Stark whispered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Neferet could hear what he said but she just wanted him to say it louder.

"Fine." Stark said louder. He got up from the seat and started walking to the door.

"Oh, and Stark?" she said as Stark was about to walk out the door. "This conversation is never to be spoken."

Stark didn't answer, he couldn't. He walked out of the door and couldn't help the single tear to fall down his cheek.

Neferet wanted to dance of joy. She felt absolutely satisfied. After all these years, her plan was finally working. Zoey's appearance made it happen and Neferet wanted to actually thank her for it. The people would get her revenge. They would pay for what they did to her.

"And someday soon they will not call me Priestess, but Goddess. Someday _very _soon…"

She laughed.

**Sorry this chapter is short and kinda sucky. My brains were working but not that well. Anyway, I've posted up the chapter for my other story so you guys could check it out and tell me what you think. It'll be very much appreciated. It's just the prologue, actually. So...yeah. : )**

**LOVINGBITES – I think I answered your question already. : )**

**PNKS FAN – Haha! Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it. : )**

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**Okay, thank you to all of you! Remember to review and check out my other story. It's called Dear Diary. I need to know what you think, whether I should continue it or not. It's just the prologue so maybe, I'll upload the first chapter too so you guys could understand the story better and thus, giving me your opinions about it. Thank you!**

**Again, sorry for the short chapter!**_  
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	13. Surprise, Surprise!

**CONGRATULATIONS! We have reached the 100 mark! Thank you, all of you! :D I didn't receive that much reviews like I usually do and I hope it's because of Christmas and not because of the chapter. Anyway, thank you still for the reviews. You guys are my inspiration, my motivation. Haha! I sound like those Celebs taking their awards on the stage. :D**

**I will also be posting up another chapter for my Dear Diary story so you guys could understand better and thus, giving me opinions. So, keep in mind for my other story! : )**

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**So, I bring you Chapter 13 of this House of Night story. Remember to leave reviews! It makes me update faster! ; )**

Chapter 13: Surprise, Surprise

_Stark's POV_

_I was standing in the middle of the Rec Hall, in the middle of a huge crowd. Everyone was cheering and jumping up and down to a song that was being played by someone on the stage, a band, to be precise. I wasn't cheering and jumping up and down like the rest of them. I stood still, in the middle, confusion written all over my face._

_I walked through the huge crowd to get to the front so that I could get a better view of the band that was playing on the stage. It was kind of hard. Everyone was pushing each other around. I got pushed a few times but I didn't bother to tell them off. All I knew was that I had to get to the front of the crowd. I felt an invisible pull pulling me towards the front. If felt as if I was in a daze._

_Finally, I got to the front of the crowd. I looked up on the stage and felt my lips pulling into a huge grin. Standing up there, holding the mic and singing into it with her beautiful voice, was Zoey, my Zoey, my Zo, my love, my life. She was wearing one of her skinny jeans out of thousands that she owned and she was wearing a loose fitted, tunic styled top with raw cut seams on the sleeves and with a grey tank top underneath it, and a pair white high-cut Converse sneakers. Her hair was tied up into a high pony tail, which gives a better view of her face and she looked beyond gorgeous, but I prefer it when she let her hair down, though. _

_I didn't concentrate on the rest of the band members. All I could look at was Zoey. She light up my world like nobody else, just thinking about her makes me smile. I must be looking like an idiot now with a big goofy grin on my face as I admired Zoey from the crowd, but that is what she does to me and I can't really help it. I soon realised that the song she was singing was Just a Girl by _No Doubt_. The song simply describes a girl who disliked being treated with kid gloves simply because she is a girl. I furrowed my eyebrows and wondering why she would sing this type of song in my dreams._

_I didn't realise that the song ended and when I did, I looked back up to Zoey staring right at me, with a grin on her face too. She gestured me to get up on stage with her hands and I did just as what she said. I didn't bother going to the side of the stage and climbed up those three steps of stairs. As I climbed up to the stage from where I was, I never broke contact with her eyes and so did she. I took in her features as I stood in front of her. The lighting on the stage made her eyes sparkled even more and the way she smiled at me made my heart beat faster. I couldn't help but put my right hand against the side of her face and stroked her cheek with my thumb. Her skin was soft and she closed her eyes and sighed in content as she leaned against my touch. _

_Suddenly, a song was being played in the background which I soon realised to be We Found Love by _Rihanna_. That's weird. I was thinking about how this song seemed to relate to the situation we're in now. Well, it's my dream. Anything can happen and what's going to happen now is I am going to kiss those luscious lips of hers. As I leaned in closer, the crowd didn't matter. It was as if they didn't exist no more. Within less than a second, my lips were already on hers and we started kissing._

_At least that was what I thought. I kissed her but she didn't kiss me back. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as my lips were still against her. Why isn't she kissing me back? Once I realised that she really isn't going to kiss me back, I backed away and look at her face that was filled with hurt and betrayal and her eyes were glistening with tears. I wanted to ask her what's wrong but when I took a step forward and put my hands out for her to be in my arms so that I could hold her, she backed away a few more steps._

"_Zo, what's wrong? Why are you like this?" I asked. My voice was shaky, afraid of what her answer would be. Is she breaking up with me in my dreams? What did I do? As if she read my thoughts, she answered me._

"_How could you, Stark? I loved you. How could you do this to me?" I took note that she said 'loved' and not 'love'. Then I realised something._

"_This isn't a dream. It's a fucking nightmare," I muttered to myself._

"_Why, Stark? I thought we loved each other," Her voice was on the verge of breaking down and she was so hurt. I felt bad and guilty even though I didn't know what wrong I did. "I thought we were soulmates," She whispered, loud enough for me to hear._

_Neferet's voice rang in my ears, "You'll break her heart. You'll tear her apart."_

_And those words kept repeating on and on and until I couldn't take it anymore, I dropped to my knees and covered my ears with my hands. Her words were getting louder and louder and it's getting me._

"_You said you loved me, Stark. Why, Stark? Why?" As Zoey said those words continuously, as well as Neferet's words, it tore me apart instead. _

"_I won't break her heart! I won't tear her apart!" I shouted back, knowing that Neferet wouldn't listen to me._

_I wanted this nightmare to end. I wanted to wake up. I wanted to run to Zoey and hold on to her for dear life. I wanted to wake up and tell her I love her. I just wanted this nightmare to end. I tried pinching myself, I even used all of my energy, hoping that I would wake up from this nightmare but none of those worked._

"_Stop it! I love Zoey! I won't break her heart!" I shouted even louder as tears trailed down my cheeks, anger and sadness raging me._

_The next thing I heard was a man's voice calling out my name and then I blacked out._

I felt like I was drowning as I woke up from my nightmare. I sucked in a huge breath of air as I jerked upright on my bed. My body was practically sweating and I could feel trails of sweat on my forehead and also on the back of my neck. I took in my surroundings and realised that I was in my dorm room that I shared together with Damien. _Damien!_ I looked to my left to where his bed was and instead of seeing him sleeping; I saw him kneeling down by my bed right beside me, grasping my shoulders hard.

"Stark! What happened? You woke me up!" Damien almost shouted, but it was because he was worried and not because he was mad, as he released his grasp on my shoulders.

"Nothing… Just a bad dream." My voice shaking as I said those words. Apparently, that nightmare still haunted me even when I was awake. "Wait, how did I wake you up?" I asked, realising that he said that I woke him up as he was asleep.

"Are you kidding me? You might've woken up the whole boys' dorm! You were shouting and thrashing around." His voice softened at the end when he realised that he was shouting at me. _That was a one fucking nightmare, _I thought to myself.

"Are you sure you're okay? That sounds like a hell of a dream." I snapped my head up to Damien in shock. Did he just say the word 'hell'? That was unusual of him, he doesn't really cuss that much.

"That bad, huh?" I asked him.

Damien gave me a small smile and nodded his head before saying, "Well, classes are going to start soon and if you'll excuse me, I have to go and take a shower." With that said, he got up on his feet and head to the showers but not before saying, "You better not go back to bed. I don't want you screaming and disturbing my fantasies as I shower."

I laughed and shook my head at how Damien is sometimes. Some people find it weird that I would share a room with someone like Damien. I mean, what's the matter with it? I know he's gay but he already has a boyfriend. Besides, I'm actually glad that Damien is my roommate. He could help me out with the school work.

I thought back to the nightmare I had just now and it brought back the memories of my meeting with Neferet yesterday. _Neferet. _She can be worse that a bitch sometimes. I can't believe she threatened me to do something that I don't want to all because of her desires. I was already living a happy life after being Marked and she just took it all away. Why must something bad happen when I finally decided to be happy? I replayed the conversation me and Neferet had yesterday.

**-FLASHBACK-**

"Stark, you cannot let your talent go to waste," Neferet said.

I just don't understand why she would bring up the topic of my past every time we have a meeting together. Why does she want me to shoot so badly? After that incident happen, I vowed not to shoot again. Although it feels like a piece of me is missing, I can't let the people I love get killed because of the talent I have, especially Zoey. I just won her heart and I don't want to kill it.

"Listen, Neferet. I don't want anything to do with shooting anymore. I made that clear the moment I got here." I wasn't surprised that my voice appeared cold and harsh. Neferet just seem to get on my nerves.

I expected her to flare up like a volcano and beat the shit out of me but I didn't expect her to smile in amusement and remain calm. Okay, she definitely wants something from me.

"Stark, I just need your help and it requires you to shoot," Neferet said, still keeping her cool. She continued before I could interrupt her.

"I'm almost done here," she said then continued. "You know… I could make the lives of your friends very easy or…a living hell." Her voice filled with smugness and her lips pulled into a smirk.

She got me at that point but me being me, I tried not to show it. "I'm not following," I said as my anger increased.

"As you can tell, I am the High Priestess over here and I control things over here." I remained quiet as she continued speaking but my anger increased and I had to scold myself to calm down and not burst.

"Let's start with the cute couple, shall we? Damien and Jack. They're so lovely together, aren't they?" Neferet was clearly enjoying this.

"You know, the House of Night in Russia is very interested in taking Damien as a fledging over there. I thought of sending Damien there and leaving Jack here, all alone, craving for Damien's comfort and presence."

"That's not it. Jack has no roommate now, right? Well, I will plan on making Jack and Taurus as roommates." My head snapped up.

I can't let that happen. Taurus was the worst roommate for Jack. He's a sixth former like me and he's the size of a gorilla. Taurus was known for his bullying and Jack happened to be a regular one. Putting them together as roommates would be hell for Jack. He won't even last a day with him. I won't let that happen.

"I also heard that Aphrodite and Darius are being all lovey-dovey with each other. I can take away Darius' position of the Son of Erebus. You wouldn't want to lose a good friend because of what you desire, would you?" Neferet was smiling with satisfaction. She knew she was close to getting me.

"I also heard that Stevie Rae's mother is falling sick. And it's bad. I could heal her, you know. But, I don't know if I should." No fucking way is she going to just let Stevie Rae's mother die. Stevie Rae was like a little sister to me and I would protect her.

"And saving the best for the last…Zoey." Neferet said her name as if it was a dirty thing. Now that got my full attention.

"I heard that her step-father is one of the People of Faith and he disowned Zoey as soon as he found out she was Marked. But he doesn't know that his wife and mother-in-law are keeping in touch with her. I wonder what he'll do to both of them when he found out about that…" Neferet tapped her chin with her finger, pretending to think.

My face paled a few shades. Zoey's step-father was not a good man. He does things his way and I could imagine all the bad things he'll do when he found out that his wife and mother-in-law were keeping in touch with each other. Hurting her family would be the same as hurting Zoey and I won't do that. I love her too much.

"Fine," I whispered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Neferet was clearly doing this on purpose just for her satisfaction.

"Fine," I said, louder this time because of my anger.

**-END OF FLASHBACK-**

"Stark? Earth to Stark!" Damien's words caught me out of those memories. "Jeez, are you sure you're okay? You're acting all weird and stuff."

"I said I'm fine!" I didn't realised I raised my voice. "Sorry, Damien. There's just a lot going on in my head right now," I said, softer this time.

"It's okay. You better get ready or else you won't have much time for breakfast." I could still tell he wasn't okay. I gave him an apologetic smile and went to shower.

x**X**x

As I entered the dining hall with Damien, my eyes immediately searched frantically for Zoey. When I saw her sitting down at our usual table with the rest of the gang and eating a pie, I smiled and got my food.I went over to out table and sat beside Zoey. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and brought her closer to me so that I could kiss her temple.

"Morning, babe," I whispered into her ear as I kissed her temple.

She giggled softly before facing me and saying, "Morning to you too." Then I pulled her in for a kiss on the lips.

"Ugh. Will you two just cut it out? Some people are trying to eat over here." Aphrodite scoffed but before that she arrived at our table with Darius and her holding hands and Darius giving a kiss on the cheek to Aphrodite before he left to sit with other Sons of Erebus.

I didn't expect the kiss to heat up. When I looked down to see Zoey, I saw her cheeks turning slightly pink and I knew she was blushing.

"You know, you're so cute when you blush." Her cheeks turned tomato red and I chuckled but then Zoey slapped me on the arm playfully and I stopped.

As we ate, Zoey and I made conversation and we were having fun just looking into each other's eyes and hearing each other's voices but all that had to be interrupted when Neferet walked up to our table. _Ugh, what that old hag wants now? _I thought to myself while I rolled my eyes in total annoyance.

"Stark, I would like to see you in my office soon."

"I have classes to be," I said, giving an excuse to not see her and be with her.

"And I have classes to teach. It won't be long. Come on, now."

I sighed frustrated. I mumbled my goodbyes and give Zoey a quick peck on the lips before I got up from my seat and followed Neferet into her office.

_Third Person POV_

Neferet couldn't help but feel over-excited about her plan that was going to happen very soon and the stuff that needed to be done for it to happen be going on smoothly as she can tell. Stark will kill that little girl with his bow and arrows and her blood will bring him back to life. Once he's alive, her plan to become the Goddess will be carried out and soon, every little one of them living will respect her and she will rule the world. Neferet smirked at that thought and became even more excited. _Oh, I've been waiting for this moment for such a long time! _She thought.

"Stark, you know I'm very glad of you to accept my help." It sounded that she was actually glad but in the back of her mind, she wasn't. She'll do anything to get what she wants and by anything, she means killing.

"Yeah, sure," Stark muttered. Stark wasn't interested in being in Neferet's office then. He couldn't stand her at all. But being threatened, he will do whatever it takes to stop Neferet from harming his loved ones. He was, indeed, a true warrior.

"Listen, I want you to train your bow and arrows every evening starting from this evening and when the time comes, I'll tell you what you have to do. But for now, all I want you to do is keep practicing," Neferet said.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes before saying, "I don't need practicing. You all know that I won't miss my aim." He slouched further into his seat, the sick feeling eating him away and settling down in the pit of his stomach.

Neferet is annoyed by Stark's attitude. Well, it's clear that both of them don't like each other. Stark fidgeted with his hands and tapped his foot, showing that he is irritated and wants to get out of here as soon as possible. Neferet, not being able to control her anger, dismissed Stark and in less than a minute, Stark was already out of the doors.

Neferet thought back to the time when she was young, to the time before she was Marked, to the time when everything was a living hell. Neferet and Zoey are similar in some ways but different in a lot of ways. Zoey was the light but Neferet was the darkness, obviously. But both of them didn't have a perfect and happy family.

Neferet was born and raised in turn-of-the-century Chicago and she was very beautiful. If she was this beautiful now, she was beyond words could explain back then. Because of her beauty, she became the prey of unwanted attention and abuse, leaving her scars that will never heal – and a darkness that will eventually need to find its way out.

At the age of ten, her mother passed away and left her with her father, which results in him abusing her for the next five years until she was Marked at the age of fifteen. Her father's abuse took a mental toll on Neferet, and she begun to think that all humans are like her father, and they all hate vampyres. This caused her deep hatred for humans and thus, wanting revenge for what her father did which led to her plan.

Neferet realised that she has been looking into her past and decided to stop because it would trigger the emotion of hurt in her and she would break down and cry. She didn't want that. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to show that she's not vulnerable and that she's powerful, that she would do anything to get what she wants and if anyone were to get in her way, they were up for a surprise.

_Zoey's POV_

Stark came just in time before Intro to Music started. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and greeted Stevie Rae before taking his place beside me. There was something different about him today. The way he acts. Actually, he seemed different ever since we were in a relationship. Could he be regretting it? Having a relationship with me?

"Stark, is everything okay?" I whispered since Prof. Vento was teaching us about the famous vampyre musician, Mozart, and I didn't want to get caught for not paying attention.

"Yeah, everything's alright. It's just that Neferet's really getting on my nerves sometimes. You know how she is." He sounded like he didn't want to talk about it anymore so I didn't push him into it and instead, squeezed his hand to comfort him. I felt glad that he squeezed mine in return.

"Alright, remember that the Talent Show will be tomorrow night and I want all of you to do your best. If you ever need this music room to practice, please inform me and I'll help you out. Good luck!" Prof. Vento said as the bell rang and we all left to go to our next class.

"Oh, wow! I can't wait for tomorrow! We're gonna do great!" Stevie Rae couldn't stop babbling as we headed to our next class which the two of us had together, Lit 101. Seeing Stevie Rae all cheery and bubbly made me laugh. She was too cheery sometimes and that's why she's my best friend. She'll never fail to make me feel better. Stark had a different class than us so he went to the other direction.

As I was about to go in, I was approached by Neferet. I told Stevie Rae to go in first.

"Zoey, how is everything so far?" Neferet started.

"Ev erything's great! Nothing bad or unusual has happened," I replied.

"Alright, then. Just wanted to let you know that I'm your mentor, and if you need anything or someone to talk to, know that I'll always be there to help you out." With that, she left and I entered my next class.

For the entire class, I don't think I was paying much attention. My attention was more focused to what Neferet said just now. Why was she suddenly all eager to know about my personal and social life? Something wrong must be happening since I know her and she

wasn't very interested in knowing about other people's business. I have to find out why, then. I sighed. Just when I thought everything was fine…

Ah, hell.

_So, how about this, 10 reviews before I post up the next chapter but 15 reviews for a long one. : )_

**I'm sorry that this chapter isn't really long and not my best one. And I'm also sorry that it keeps changing POVs and it's mostly Stark's POV. So… I hope you guys enjoyed it and please, review! :D The next chapter is already planned out and I'm halfway through! Remember to also stay tune for the next chapter of my other House of Night story, Dear Diary. Thanks! :D**

**KLARA – Thank you for reviewing and also for reading my other story! It means a lot to me! Thanks! :D**

**SAM – I'm glad you liked her POV. I was actually thinking that it sounded quite bad. :/ Anyway, thank you so much! :D**

**VALS – Haha! I actually wanted to write what she said to him in the previous chapter but I was kind of in a rush so, I didn't have the time to write it down. Anyway, thank you and glad you enjoyed it! :D**

**MONIKA – Aww! Thank you for saying that! :D Also, thank you for reading Dear Diary. It means a lot to me! THANKS! :D**

**EMILE – Hahahaha! Me too! THEY'RE FREAKING ADORABLE! :D Thank you! :D**

**Thanks, all of you! YOU GUYS ROCK! :D**


	14. The Show

_**I just changed the ending to this chapter so you guys could skip to the last part of the story if you want to. I'll let you know which part I changed. : )**_

**I would like to thank HousexOfxNightxLove for adding my story to her Story Alert Subscription. Thank you! :D**

**I also wanna thank all of you for the many reviews I received for the previous chapter. I hope it'll go on for the rest of the chapters. Your reviews make my day and making it the first thing I see after I wake up every morning makes it even better. So, thanks so much! Now, ON WITH THE STORY! :D**

Chapter 14: The Show

All classes and lessons were cancelled today because tonight, the Talent Show will be held in the Rec Hall and the professors and Neferet were kind enough to let us get whatever we needed to get or to do for the Talent Show tonight. Of course, all of the fledgings were excited. I mean, when will there be another time where all classes and lessons be cancelled and we could actually get out of the House of Night to shop for whatever we needed to shop? And of course, the Twins were beyond excited because well…_shopping_.

I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the dorm room of the Twins. I must say, I was shocked when I entered their room. I've been in this House of Night for about a month or two and I have never, once, entered their room which means this would be my first time. Their room is totally different than the rest of the rooms that I've seen here. They totally customized it! They painted their walls in the colour of hot pink instead of just leaving the original colour, dark red, alone. They even had a queen size bed, which I think they shared together, and an extra single bed! They were a lot of posters of celebrities and hot guys, and a lot of pictures of them together on the wall. One poster did catch my eye, though. It was a poster of Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne from _the Hunger Games_. I read the whole trilogy and I happen to fall in love with a fictional character, Gale. To top it all off, they decorated the room by hanging lights on their walls and their ceilings and it looked wonderful. Their room was even better than Aphrodite's although Aphrodite was richer.

"Zoey, it's your turn. Are you ready?" Erin asked me.

If we ever decided to leave school grounds, we couldn't wear any part of our uniform and we had to conceal all of our tattoo markings since we will be around humans and most of them have distaste for us. Since I'm still a newbie, I didn't know how to conceal my marks so Erin decided to help me which I am very grateful of.

"Yeah, go ahead," I answered.

As Erin concealed my mark, I decided to see what the others were doing. Stevie Rae was helping out Shaunee by trying to pick out her outfit to wear for the shopping. The look on Stevie Rae's face made me want to just laugh out loud but I can't. Erin will be mad. Stevie Rae looked annoyed and bored because she's been doing that for the past hour. Basically, her reaction was priceless. I wonder how Shaunee doesn't realise it, though. Maybe she's too wrapped up.

Aphrodite, on the other hand, was lying on the queen-sized bed, her back leaning against the headboard, and texting away. She was texting away furiously; I bet her iPhone is going to break any minute now. She looks mad too. Girl problem, I guess.

"Alright, one last touch and…you're done," Erin said while making some final adjustments to my mark.

Erin moved away from the full-length mirror and I took a look at myself. She did an amazing job. It looked as if I was…_human _once again. You really couldn't see the Mark on my forehead. I brought up my hand to touch the spot where my Mark was once there but Erin snapped my hand away.

"Don't touch it or you'll destroy it and your Mark will be revealed!" Erin exclaimed.

I put my hands up in surrender and gave Erin an innocent look. She gave me a small smile and laughed lightly to show that she really didn't mean to sound quite harsh. I smiled back in return, showing that I knew she really didn't mean it. It's weird how we, girls, could communicate by just facial expressions. I wonder if the guys do it too…

Just as I was thinking about that stuff, someone wrapped their arms around me from behind me and began burying their head in my neck, as if they're trying to take in my scent. I was about to twist that person's arms and detach it from its body but as soon as I realised it was Stark wrapping his arms around me, I calmed a little.

"You look beautiful," whispered Stark, his head still buried in my neck.

I turned around and he moved away a little to give me some space as I turned to face him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and took in his features. He looked dashing, as always. He gave me a huge grin that I've never seen him put it on before. There was the light in his eyes, he made me feel important. Oh, what did I do to deserve him as my boyfriend?

Stark shifted his gaze from my eyes to my lips and I did the same. He moved a few inches closer to me and our lips crashed together. Every kiss was always better than the previous one. Sparks flew even more and the electric jolt grew stronger. We couldn't keep our hands of off each other. Stark moved his hands under my shirt and things were kinda getting hot and heavy here. I wanted him to take my clothes off. I wanted to feel him, but then the voice of someone brought me back to reality.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Keep your hands off each other, guys! We're like in the same room and I don't wanna see you taking each other's clothes off!"

Aphrodite's voice scared the crap out of me. _Ah, crap! _I totally forgot that the rest of the gang was in here too. Man that was embarrassing. I pulled my face away from Stark's to find my hand entwining with his hair. Were we really into each other that we were so close to getting our clothes ripped out? I blushed at that thought and at how embarrassed I was. I stepped away from his arms but Stark kept one of his arms around my waist and here I am, feeling all embarrassed, while he had an even bigger grin on his face, and I couldn't help but smile at how happy I made him felt.

"We'll continue this later," Stark whispered into my ear, loud enough for just the both of us to hear, and his voice was all husky. I think my eyes grew wide and my cheeks were redder than before. He chuckled and I could feel his chest moving.

I looked away from his face and tried to find something to stare at in the room to avoid eye contacts. Erin and Shaunee were holding each others' hands and looked like tears were going to fall from their eyes. It was as if they were watching some romantic move, it's just that the two characters in love were right in front of them; me and Stark.

_Gah, I think Stark just turned me on._

There was a knock on the door and the door opened to reveal Darius coming in and shutting the door behind him. I expected Aphrodite to run and jump up to him and started hugging and kissing him all over his face but instead, Aphrodite folded her arms in her chest and looked rather pissed. Darius looked sad. He was standing in front of the door and stared straight into Aphrodite with love and longing and regret in his eyes. _Wait, why was there regret?_

"Aphrodite, baby?" Since when did Darius stop becoming tough and invulnerable?

Everyone in the room turned to look at Aphrodite, including Damien and Jack. Aphrodite still has her hands folded into her chest. She scoffed and rolled her eyes before answering, "Don't call me 'baby'." She pronounced 'baby' as if it was a dirty word.

"Aphrodite, I'm really sorry. You know I won't do such things to you."

"Oh, really? Then who was that girl I heard when we were talking onto the phone just now?"

Darius burst into laughter. He clutched his stomach and tried to calm himself down. Aphrodite grew even pissed and her hands were by her side. Her face was in pure disbelief.

"_That's _what has gotten you all mad at me? Aphrodite, that's Cindy, my _little sister_. We were communicating through Skype."

Aphrodite was stunned at first and her mouth opened to say out some words but she was speechless. Darius looked disappointed and left the room. Aphrodite called out his name and ran after him.

"Let them solve these themselves," said Damien and we all waited for the two of them in front of the car.

x**X**x

Stark was playing with my hair as we waited for Aphrodite and Darius to get their asses over here. We waited for so long that we got tired and decided to sit by the wall next to the car. I drew circles with my fingers on Stark's chest when both of the made an appearance…in a sweaty and untidy state.

"Hah! Pay up, Twin!" Shaunee shouted from the other side of the car. Erin took out twenty bucks from her purse and handed it over to Shaunee in a not-satisfied-kind of way.

"You guys betted on me?" Aphrodite shrieked.

Darius took the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car. Aphrodite called out 'shot-gun' and ran to sit at the front. I guess they made up pretty well, then. Damien and Jack and the Twins managed to squeeze into the second row and I don't want to know how. That means Stark and I had the last row all to us.

As Stark sat next to me and Darius began driving the car, I suddenly felt so sleepy. How long since I had a proper sleep? Three days? Maybe even four. Stark must have realised my sleepiness as he put his arms around my shoulders and whispered in the most calming voice ever into my ears, "Sleep, my love." With that, I felt my eyes closing and soon, I was in a deep sleep.

"Zoey, babe? Wake up, we're already here."

Stark shook me gently, my head still on his shoulder. I fluttered my eyes open and adjusted to the light. I checked the time in the car and it's been an hour since we've been in the car. It felt like ten minutes to me. I had a good sleep, though.

As soon as we entered the entrance to the mall, I was dragged by Shaunee, Erin and Stevie Rae. Aphrodite rolled her eyes at that, but I knew she felt excited too. She couldn't keep the tiny smile of her face.

We entered this really huge store called _Reject Shop _and get started on looking for clothes. The Twins went to the party dresses section while Stevie Rae and I took our time walking around the store and looking for the right outfit. Aphrodite joined us thirty minutes later. The guys went to some video games shop. _Boys. _

About 2 hours and so many outfits later, I heard Erin screamed for the thousandth time today. I knew that she had found another 'perfect' outfit for her or Shaunee. Both of them have been screaming or squealing every time they found an outfit that they fell in love with. Well, what can I say? We are girls, anyway.

I was looking through the clothes in the rack and I couldn't help but let out a gasp. It was the perfect outfit. I didn't even have to try it out. I quickly looked for my size and bought it.

"I'm sorry, miss, you're short of ten dollars," said the cashier.

I looked through my purse and my pocket for the ten dollars and was disappointed when I couldn't find any. I guess I have to put the dress back, then. I was about to cancel it when Stark came by my side and handed the cashier ten dollars.

"Stark, you didn't have to do that!"

"Of course, I do. You're my girlfriend. I should have paid the whole amount for the dress, actually. Wow, I'm such a bad boyfriend." He said the last part rather to himself.

I shook my head at him. Why would he think such a thing? I brought his face to my hands and leaned in for a kiss but not before saying, "Thank you. You're the best boyfriend ever."

We decided to get our lunch at a nearby restaurant, _Subway_. The funny thing is that Heath and I used to come here most of the time when we were together. We even had a place of our own. I was hoping I wouldn't get to see him in there, not after all that had happened but much to my luck, he was sitting at our table, all alone, and drinking a cup of cappuccino. I was debating whether I should approach him or not. I'll have to face him sooner or later, anyways. I told Stevie Rae to reserve a sit for me and approached the lonely and sad-looking Heath.

"Hey, Heath," I started out.

His head shot up. His mouth hung open but he didn't say anything.

"Can I sit?" Again, he didn't say anything. I sighed and sat in front of him anyway.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Zoey, is that really you?" He sounded heart-broken, like really heart-broken. I tried to hold back the tears in my eyes and it stung.

"Heath, I'm sorry," I whispered those words to him.

"Why?" He asked me in return, but then he decided to change the topic by asking me about my covered Mark. "Hey, where's your Mark?"

"Oh, Erin covered it for me," I said while putting my hand up to where my Mark was, careful enough to not destroy the make-up or else Erin would be mad at me. Oh, wow. I could totally imagine her reaction when she saw my make-up was ruined. "We're not allowed to let our Marks be seen once we're out of the House of Night boundaries." I continued.

"Erin?" He questioned.

"Yeah, Erin. She's a new friend I made while I was there. She's kinda sweet actually, friendly too." After that, Heath said a silent 'oh' and we were silent for the next few minutes. How awkward could this conversation get? I mean, I just told a human being that a fledging is sweet and friendly. Of course, he'll get uncomfortable.

"So…uh… How's Kayla?" The last time I saw her was at _Texas Chicken_. Me and the gang were out for one of the multiple shopping trips we had for the past few months. When I saw her, she looked rather pissed. I can't really blame her for that. Her dad was just like John, a People of Faith, and believes that all vampyres are monsters. She was raised by that saying too.

"Kayla? She's doing great, I guess." Heath was lying. I could tell. I've been with him since third grade and whenever he lies, he would look around and shake his foot and that is exactly what he was doing right now.

"Are you sure?" I confirmed with him. His mouth was opened, he was about to say something when Stark's voice stopped him from saying what he was about to say.

"Hey, where've you been? I was looking for you." He was oblivious that Heath was sitting right in front of me so when he realised that, he grew curious and suspicious, but then his face lit up as if he remembered who he was.

"Hey! Heath, right?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Nice meeting you, man." Then they did the handshake that guys do whenever they meet up.

"I…I gotta go. See you some time, and nice meeting you!" With that said he slides out of his seat and I watched him walking out the doors, with his hands in his pocket and not once, look at me.

"He's a nice kid," Stark said and I stared at him with an 'are you for real?' look. He shrugged his shoulders and acted all innocent, then grabbed my hand and led me to where our friends were. We spent the next hour eating our lunch while talking and laughing about the simplest things ever.

x**X**x

"Stevie Rae, you're up next." The voice of the runner got us standing on our feet and walking up the stage.

We were doing a quick rehearsal before the real show begins. Even though this was just a practice, I was quite nervous too. The last time I went to perform on stage was when I was in kindergarten. We were doing a play about a nursery rhyme. I took my position on the stool that was prepared and quickly checked to make sure my guitar is tuned properly. Stark did the same and within a minute, we were ready to perform.

I dove into my intro guitar part, my pick gliding between the strings in the rhythm the song gave. Soon after, Stark dove in with his part of the intro guitar. We were careful, making sure both of us were in tune and not missing a note. We kept in sync. I was bobbing my head and tapping my foot to the beat while Stark was closing his eyes and shaking his head from left to right.

After our intro ended, we dove into the first verse and that's where Stevie Rae's voice came in. There was a slight twang in it, but it wasn't that obvious. Stevie Rae swayed to the music, letting it take her in, letting her feel the bliss of it. I have to say, we were quite good. The song we played was not too boring and not too hardcore. It was just right, and the way Stevie Rae sings made it even better for the audience to feel it and swayed with us.

It all ended with the roar of the audience's applaud. There weren't many people here since it was just the rehearsal but the performers, a few other fledgings, and professors in charge were there and they were our audience. I wonder how I would feel if what I felt right now was indescribable. This isn't the full audience yet. I knew I couldn't wait for the show to begin.

"Stark, Zoey, I need to see you outside. It's important." Neferet's booming voice stopped the crowd from applauding and cheering. I passed my guitar to one of the fledging that volunteered to be a backstage crew. I threatened that guy to make sure that my guitar would be in perfect condition once I came back to retrieve it. I can't live to see a single tiny scratch on that favourite and the only guitar of mine. His face paled a few shades and I knew I got his word. I smirked and followed Neferet out of the rec hall, with Stark by my side.

"What do you want?" Stark got straight to the point, sounding quite harsh and rude. I shot him a glare to keep his cool but he was glaring at Neferet, not catching my glare. Neferet noticed that attitude of his but decided to let it go. She turned to me and that look on her face scared me. It was filled with sadness and pity, but I don't think it was pointed directly at me.

"What is it?" I asked, my curiosity growing.

"Zoey..." Neferet hesitated and took a deep breath before telling me the news she wanted to tell me, "Stevie Rae's mother just passed away this morning while you and your friends were out."

I was stunned, speechless. I didn't know how to react. My best friend's mother just passed away, and she passed away when we were out, having fun. How would Stevie Rae take it when she heard this news? To be honest, I couldn't feel what she would be feeling because a family member of mine hasn't died. Well, my dad did pass away but I had other family members there for me. Stevie Rae had none, she only had her mum and now her mum was gone too. She's all alone.

A sob from behind us broke me from my thoughts. We turned around and there was Stevie Rae. She was standing with her hands by her side, her face down and streaming with tears.

"Oh, Stevie Rae…" I sighed. She shot her head up and before I could get a glance at her face, she took off and ran away to some place.

"I'll go talk to her," I told Stark and Neferet. Neferet had tears in her eyes already while Stark was trying very hard to not let those tears free fall from his eyes. His face was strained too. I took off, chasing after her.

I ran, not knowing where to go. _Okay, think. _I told myself. _Where would you go if you received the shock of your life? _I thought and thought of an answer and found it. I sped up my running and went to our music classroom. There was a mini stage in there. I sighed in relief when I saw Stevie Rae, sitting down by the side of the mini stage. Her knees were brought up to her chest and she was burying her head in them. I felt even more heart-broken just by looking at her like that.

I walked towards her and sat beside her. To be honest, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if she wanted to be alone or if she needed someone to comfort her. Her sobs were lessened down by then. I looked at her and did the first thing that came into my mind and the only thing I could think of. I hugged her and comforted her. Her sobs got louder and heavier again. Suddenly, random lyrics started forming through my head and it created a song, specially written for Stevie Rae.

_I remember tears streaming down your face;_

_When I said, I'll never let you go,_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light._

_I remember you said, _

_Don't leave me here alone,_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight._

As I kept singing, the lyrics came easier, like water flowing. I didn't realise I was crying until I heard my voice cracked when I sang the chorus. At the end of the song, Stevie Rae stopped crying and her head was on my shoulder.

"Please don't leave me here alone," Stevie Rae whispered. I hugged her again.

_Stark's POV_

"Stevie Rae's mother just passed away this morning while you and your friends were out."

My head shot up hearing that. Did I hear it correctly? No way, this isn't impossible. Neferet made a deal with me! As soon as Zoey took off, in search for Stevie Rae, I faced Neferet and glared at her. If only looks could kill.

"I thought we had a deal!" I shouted at her.

"I'm sorry, Stark. I can't stop death from happening," Neferet said, a little too pleasing, and walked away proudly. _That bitch._

I couldn't believe it. I fell for her trap. She promised that she would heal Stevie Rae's mum if I followed her rules and I did, but what did I get? Her mum passed away! And Stevie Rae wasn't there to see her or to protect her or to prevent it from happening. I couldn't feel for this girl but I knew she would feel broken and shattered. She was all alone and not even her friends can help heal her.

I decided to search for Stevie Rae and Zoey so I went to the first thing that came into my mind; the dining hall. I was disappointed when I didn't see them there. Next, I went to the library. Again, no luck. Where would girls go to get some privacy, then? Damn it, how would I know? I'm a dude, for goddess' sake! I sighed in exasperation.

I decided to go to their dorm room when I felt someone grabbing me by the hand and pulled me aside. I stared into the eyes of the person and immediately felt dazed. I didn't know who the person was. What happened next were in a flash. A pair of lips met mine and started kissing mine. Without thinking or knowing what was happening, I kissed her back.

I felt like this was the wrong thing to do, that I should pull away and the beat the crap out of this person that was kissing me. But I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't move away. I was held tightened by something. The guilt feeling was eating me away. Why would I be feeling guilty?

"Stark? Aphrodite?" That voice shook me out of my conscience. I got oblivious to what was happening and standing in front me of me was Aphrodite, looking guilty but relieved and a few meters away stood Zoey, looking sad and crushed. What happened?

"What's going on?" I asked without thinking. Instead of answering me, Zoey ran off and doing what my instinct told me to, I followed after her.

"Zoey, wait! What happened?" I shouted after her. She turned around and I wish I could wipe that facial expression off of her face. It hurts to see her that way.

"What happened? What happened? You fuckin' cheated on me with Aphrodite! You kissed her! Why?"

I didn't know how to reply. Had I really cheated on her and kissed Aphrodite? Could that be why Aphrodite was looking all guilty? But why did she felt relived too? Argh, I don't know what's happening right now. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Zoey ran off again and this time, I didn't chase after her. I deserved it, anyway. I cheated on her. I cheated on the woman that I love and the only one I'll ever love. She was my soulmate.

"Oh, what have I done? Nyx, please help me." I fell to my knees and buried my head in my hands.

_You'll break her heart, you'll tear her apart._

And for the many times in these few months, I cried.

_Zoey's POV _

I took off again for the many times that day; this time, with me the one that's being crushed. I couldn't believe my eyes. Had I really seen Stark and Aphrodite kissing? Why would he kiss her? And she kissed him back! I though she was in love with Darius. Well, I guess not.

I got to the backstage of the rec hall and searched for Stevie Rae. My main focus now was the show and not some guy problem. I found her at the dressing table. She was listening to her iPod and reading the lyrics off a sheet of paper.

"Oh, Zoey! I'm glad you're back!" She took off her earpiece and I sat beside her.

"What's up?"

"Could we change the song? I have a song in mind that I wanna dedicate to my mama."

"Sure, of course! What's it called?"

"Mama, by the _Spice Girls_." Ah, I know that song. I think it fits the situation Stevie Rae was in right now. We spent all the time we have left to learn the new song. Apparently, only one guitar was needed and I let Stark take the lead of the guitarist while I became the keyboardist.

"Hey, guys! We're called the _Unknown Title _and we're here to rock out the talent show and stuff." The band that was supposed to play before us came on and rocked the audience as well as the stage.

_So sentimental  
>Not sentimental no<br>Romantic not discussing it  
>Darling I'm down and lonely<br>When were the fortunate only?  
>I've been looking for something else<br>Too late too late too late  
>Shall be late too late too late <em>

_So go slowly discourage  
>Distant from other interests<br>On your favorite weekend  
>Ending this love for gentlemen only<br>That's where the fortunate only  
>No I gotta be someone else<br>These days it comes it comes  
>it comes it comes it comes and goes<em>

The guitarist of the band dove into the intro guitar part, followed by the bass. I knew the song was familiar. It was Lisztomania by _Phoenix. _The second most played song on my iPod after _Aerosmith_'s Make It. I decided to see who the band members was and was shocked to see, taking the role of the lead singer and the bassist, Clover. From what I heard, he was an anti-social. He mixed with nobody. I wondered how he got to form a band and a good one too.

His hair was a dirty blonde, cropped and shagged, and his eyes were the colour of striking blue. He was wearing worn-out jeans and a plain white tee. His hand stayed at the fret board of his bass as he sang those lyrics and began moving up and down as the song continued. My foot stomped and my body rocked back and forth. I even sang along.

As the bridge got closer, he managed to catch me looking at him. He smirked and winked at me and I couldn't help but smiled and blushed. He stayed in sync with the guitarist, tilting his chin up and closing his eyes, as if he was lost in them. When he sang the chorus again, he got the whole to crowd to clap along with him and I felt impressed at what he was doing. An anti-social fledging was charming the crowd.

It all ended with a scream of feedback. Clover was looking flushed and his chest was heaving in and out. The roar of the audience followed – whistles, squeals, shouts, and the clapping of the hundreds of hands all at once. The band walked past me as the left they stage, I managed to catch Clover looking at my way, still smirking. When did he get so attractive?

Our names were called out next and we took our position on the stage; Stark, sitting on the stool, with his guitar on his lap, Stevie Rae, sitting on the stool too, with the mic in front of her, and me, sitting in front of a keyboard that one of the performers loaned me. I should thank that person.

"I wanna dedicate this song to my mama…who recently passed away this morning. Mama, I love you and I hope you rest in peace."

With that said, Stark strummed his guitar to the intro of the song and I pressed the keys of the keyboard, trying to get in sync with Stark. After a few tries, I got the hang of it, and Stevie Rae started singing.

_She used to be my only enemy and never let me be free__  
><em>_Catching me in places that I knew I shouldn't be__  
><em>_Every other day I crossed the line__  
><em>_I didn't mean to be so bad__  
><em>_I never thought you would__  
><em>_Become the friend I never had_

You could really feel what she felt when she sang that song. Stevie Rae poured her heart out into that song. The audience was swaying slowly along with the song. As she got to the chorus, their hands were all up and moving in sync with the melody of the song. By the time the song ended, the audience was silent until they broke into loud cheers and applause. I did too, for Stevie Rae. I knew it was hard to accept the fact that someone very close to you just passed away.

Stevie Rae was about to thank them when she began coughing badly and heavily. I moved forward and patted her back. Stark went to find someone for help and to get her a glass of water. As she pulled her hand away from her mouth, I gasped at all the blood that covered her hand. Stevie Rae looked up at me, but not long before she began coughing like a mad person again.

Stevie Rae dropped to her knees and her coughs were worsening. Neferet came to the rescue and shouted for someone to bring her towels. Stevie Rae was lying against my lap and she was out of breath. Her mouth and hands were all covered with her blood and I got worried. Tears fell from my eyes as I begged her to not close her eyes on me.

"Zoey…" Her voice was hoarse, as if she was using too much energy to speak out my name.

"No, don't, Stevie Rae," I begged her as tears were streaming down my eyes.

"Thanks, Z. You're the best friend ever." With that said, her eyes closed and she began to felt cold. Her skin turned pale and she was no longer coughing and breathing heavily.

"No! Nonononononononono!" I repeated that word over and over again. No! Stevie Rae couldn't be dying on me!

"No, Stevie Rae! Please wake up! Come on! Don't do this!" I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. She wouldn't wake up; I didn't know what to do.

**(I did some changes starting from this part onwards.)**

"Stevie Rae! Open your eyes! I know you're still there!" I shouted at her, hoping that it would work. Stevie Rae would wake up. Yes, she would! She would wake up and tell me that all of this was just a prank to scare me or something. She wouldn't leave me. No, she wouldn't! I need her! I really do need her.

"Zoey, I'm really sorry but Stevie Rae's body rejected the change. I know it's hard for you but if you want her to have a happy life in the Otherworld she needs to be cleansed and a ritual should be done," said Neferet, that evil bitch. I bet all of these were her doings. I bet she did this on purpose!

"You're all lying. You did this on purpose!" I shouted before I ran away. I didn't know where I would be running to but I just knew I had to get away and so, ran away I did.

_Aphrodite's POV_

I took a quick look around the room, making sure that I didn't miss anything. My dorm room was, basically, empty right now. I took down all of the pictures that I hung up. I packed all of my clothes from the wardrobe into my luggage. All of my toiletries were cleared away from the toilet and were packed into the luggage too.

I didn't want to admit it, but I'll miss this place. I sighed as I grabbed my luggage and walked to Neferet's office, waiting of what is to come. 

"You've done everything I've told you too and I'm glad you did," Neferet said. I didn't feel like saying anything so all I did was nod my head in agreement.

"Where are you going?" Said Neferet after she realised the huge luggage that I was carrying with me.

"I don't wanna get involve with your plans anymore, Neferet. I hate being threatened. I hate what you're doing. I don't want my friends to hate me."

Neferet rose from her seat and I knew I was starting to shake. No, I won't be afraid. I've got to stand up for myself.

"And your point is?" Neferet's voice were hard cold, it sent shivers down my spine.

"I want to drop out of the House of Night, for a while," I said, filled with confidence.

"You know you're a fledging, you can't live in the outside world for a long time. You need the House of Night."

"At least when I die, I didn't die for doing a huge sin and I can die in peace."

"Very well, then." Neferet nodded her head and she began to make arrangements for me. I told her that I'll be living in one of the Villas that my parents bought. I didn't tell her the exact location, though. I know it'll lead to trouble and only trouble.

Neferet handed me the slip for me to pass to guards guarding the gates. Before I could leave this place, I still had one more thing to do. I took out the letter I wrote from my handbag and walked to Zoey's room. My heels of my boots clicked as I walked and I was hoping I wouldn't wake anyone up to raise suspicions.

Zoey was in the shower when I entered the room. Quickly and carefully, I placed the letter on her dressing table. I hope she'll read it. After I was done, I made my way out of the girls' dorm and out of the House of Night.

_Oh, Nyx… Please forgive me for all of my wrong doings. I realised my mistakes now. Please forgive me. _I prayed to Nyx as I walked my way to a new journey of my life.

_The previous chapter went well. Let's keep it up! 20 reviews for the next chapter but 25 reviews for a long one. : )_

**So, I didn't include Clover in this chapter because I thought he wasn't that much of a use. The next chapter should be up soon. Thanks! Review! All Author's Notes will be deleted.**

**How was it? I hope it was long enough. I'm really sorry for the delay. School stresses me out! Anyway, how did you like the new character I made up, Clover? He's cool, huh? LOL. So you know what to do. REVIEW! :D**

**Song used in this chapter:**

**Mama – Spice Girls**

**Lisztomania – Phoenix**

**Safe and Sound – Taylor Swift**

**Thanks, all of you! :D**

_So, what's your favourite song? :D_


	15. Untitled

**I would like to thank ****StarkLover89**** for adding my story to her Favourite Stories list, ****Aneho ****for adding my story to her Favourite Stories list and Story Alert subscription and also for adding me to her Favourite Authors list and Author Alert subscription, **** Ivashkov ****for adding my story to her Story Alert Subscription, and ****Swimchick1224**** for adding my story to her Story Alert subscription. Lastly, I would like to thank ****ineedapeeta**** for adding my story to her Story Alert Subscription. Thank you, guys! :D**

**I'm sorry for not updating for such a long time! My exams are over and I managed to get good results so, YAY ME. Lol. I don't wanna keep you guys waiting so here's the next chapter to this story! :D**

**Did you guys read the previous chapter? I did some changes to it. : )**

Chapter 15: Untitled

The look in his eyes would determine my answer to his question that has been eating me away for the past few days. I tried ignoring that question by changing the conversation to another subject and it worked, but not for long. Stark managed to see what I was trying to do and this time, he made it sure that I wouldn't change the subject.

But what am I supposed to answer? To be truthful, the reason why I avoided his question was because I didn't know what to answer and it was also because I was afraid my answer would hurt him or even worse, crush him and the relationship between us shattered, even if we remained as friends. Stark was the only person I have that I trusted the most after Stevie Rae rejected the change and died. If Aphrodite was here, I might even consider her as the next person I trusted the most but, I haven't seen her for the whole day. I haven't seen her at breakfast either.

_Zoey, what's going on between us?_

The question raced through my mind again. To be honest, I don't know what's going on between us. The incident with Aphrodite had left a huge impact on me. Yes, I was mad at him but I still love him. The only thing is, does he love me like how I love him too? Relationship doesn't work in only one way, right? We have to communicate. If only Nyx happened to be a relationship advisor too. Trying my luck, I prayed to Nyx. _Nyx, what am I supposed to do?_

"Zoey?"

Stark's voice was soft. It was soft, like an innocent little child. In fact, his face looked like an innocent little child. I didn't want to hurt him, but I don't think I'm ready yet. Neferet is up to something evil and I just lost my best friend a few days ago and experienced pain from my boyfriend, which I don't know what's going on between us.

I looked up to meet his eyes and said the words that I could only think of, "I'm sorry, Stark. I just can't..."

And with that, I did the thing that I was good at the most; I ran away from my problem.

x**X**x

I stared into empty space during Literature lesson. In fact, I stared into empty space during most of the lessons. I didn't know what to do right now. My life is in a complete mess. Neferet's planning something evil, and I don't know how I can stop her. It's like everybody's depending on me and I can't take that much weight on my shoulders. If Stevie Rae was here, she would help me through this. She would motivate me; she would use that accent of hers and shout at me as if she was my mum. I miss her.

"Zoey!" Damien whispered loudly at me.

I turned to look at him and gave him the 'What?' look. He pointed his pen to the front of the class and I followed his gaze. Prof. Penthesilea was looking at me. In fact, everyone in the class was. I must have zoned out completely.

"Zoey, I need to speak with you after class." Oh, great. The last time I got into trouble was in 4th grade.

"Zoey, I've realised that you've been zoning out in my lessons. May I know why?"

The class ended and Prof. Penthesilea was half-sitting on her desk while I sat on her chair. I looked at her before I decided on what to answer her.

"I don't know. Just stuff, I guess." I replied, non-heartedly.

Prof. Penthesilea sighed in exasperation and got up on her seat. She began walking around the classroom before she stood in front of the window and just stared out of it. I put my brows together in confusion, wondering what the hell she was doing. I decided to get up from the seat and stood next to her by the window.

"I know Stevie Rae's death made a huge impact on you and I know you're depressed by that." Prof. Penthesilea suddenly said. She turned to face me and continued speaking, "But that doesn't give you the reason to change yourself into this kind of person. You're strong, Zoey. I know that, I can see it in you."

For the whole while I was looking at my shoes, not knowing what to do. When she grasped my shoulder, I looked up to face her. My eyes widen in shocked. She looked broken. I could see the wrinkles that were forming on her forehead.

"Do this for Stevie Rae, then. The world needs you." She smiled softly at me and looked out the window again. "You may leave now. You don't want to be late for your next class, do you?"

As I made my way out of the class, I couldn't help but noticed the tear that fell from her eyes.

x**X**x

"Sorry, Dragon, I got held back in Prof. Penthesilea's class," I said as I made my way to the gym and placed my bag by the lockers at the side.

"No worries. You didn't miss out on anything important yet." Dragon was always the laid back professor. That's why we get to call him 'Dragon' and not 'Professor Lankford', like the other professors. He says it's too high class which was not really his type.

"Alright, Zoey, it seems like you're working with Stark today."

Of course, I would. Stevie Rae would always be my partner for fencing class and Stark would always work with Dragon. But she isn't here, is she? How awkward can this lesson get? I picked up the bladed weapon and stood in my position in front of Stark. I didn't really know how to play fencing, but I guess this class is what it's for right? I have to admit I get a little excited when it comes to fencing.

"Alright, class, practice what I taught you during the last lesson first. After that, we'll move onto the techniques and skills of fencing," announced Dragon.

"Are you ready?" Stark asked with a small grin plastered on his face.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I answered back, not wanting to prove him wrong.

Dragon's whistle blew and we began our fight. Stark started off first but I defended with my sword. This goes on for a few times. I pointed my sword to his shoulder but he managed to swerve to right and used this to try and hit me at my torso. Notice that I used to word 'try'. I pushed away his sword using mine and stood in my position again.

"Zoey, I miss you." Stark said out of a sudden. This caused me to falter and I stood frozen in shock. Stark used this moment to his advantage and pointed his sword to my torso, causing him to win and me, to lose.

"Nice one, Stark. Zoey, you gotta stay focus." Dragon must have been watching us.

I felt disappointed with myself. I let that sentence get to me. I shouldn't have. But it was all out of a sudden. I don't know why, but I suddenly feel mad. I feel mad at myself and at Stark for doing that to me. Jerk.

The bell rang which means it was lunch break now. I needed to get away; I don't feel like eating either. I told the Twins that I'll be by the huge old oak tree outside and they don't have to worry about me.

"Cheer up, Zoey," said Erin. "Yeah, we can't bear to see you like this," Erin continued.

I nodded at them before walking away. I was glad I had friends like the Twins. They cared about me. They were my true friends. I sighed as I sat in front of the huge tree. Everything here seems peaceful. The weather, the atmosphere, it has a peaceful feeling. I took in the scent and smelled grass, sweet grass. _Grass. _Stevie Rae's element was Earth.

I didn't realise I began to cry, not until a tear dropped onto my knee. _Oh, Nyx, why did Stevie Rae have to die? She was the only person that would comfort me and let me forget about my problems. Why, Nyx? Why? _I prayed hard to Nyx.

Suddenly, I heard a meow coming from above. I looked up to see a cat trapped onto one of the branches. Oh, poor cat. I got up onto my feet and tried to grab the cat. It was not that high but high enough that I had to climb the tree to get her.

I put my foot on one of the branches at the bottom, and the other one on top. I guess the rock-climbing classes that I went to with my mum when I was young paid off. I finally climbed until my hands were long enough to reach the cat.

"Here, kitty, kitty. You're safe now," I said softly as I grabbed her.

Once I grabbed her, one of the branches that I stepped on broke and I fell onto my back. The cat fell above me and released a huge _mee-uf-ow _from her mouth which caused me to laugh out loud.

"I'm gonna call you Nala." And I spent the entire lunch break playing and getting to know Nala, which was now my cat.

x**X**x

The rest of the day went well. I introduced Nala to the rest of the gang and she became the centre of attraction, especially Damien. He couldn't stop playing with Nala that at one period of time, Nala got mad and meowed angrily at him. This caused the whole gang to an abrupt of laughter.

After classes ended, I made my way to my room to have a shower and catch up on my sleep. To my surprise, I saw Stark standing by my dorm room. I rolled my eyes and sighed in frustration.

"What do you want? Shouldn't you be in your dorm room?" I asked while taking out my key to open up my door and not at once, glanced at him.

"Zoey, we need to talk." When he said that, I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against the door.

"What else is there to talk about, Stark?" I asked and answered my own question. "Okay, you know what? I'm kinda tired right now and I need to catch up on my sleep. Let's say we have a talk tomorrow, okay? Grab some coffee or something. Sounds cool?"

"Of course, sounds perfect. I'll see you." Stark smiled and began to walk away. At least that was what I thought. He came back and gave me a quick peck on the cheek which took me by surprise. But what he did next took me even more by surprise. He whispered into my ear, "Happy Birthday, Zoey."

It was my birthday, and he remembered.

_10 reviews__ for the next chapter, but __15 reviews__ for a long one. : )_

**Sorry, for the really short chapter. I guess this was more of a filler than a chapter. I hope you guys liked it! It's the holidays right now so I am able to update frequently. So, yay! Remember to review! :D**

**Unknown1997 – **Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. : )

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**Rachel – **Haha! Yes. Yes, he does. ; )

**Amber – **You haven't read the series? What are you waiting for, girl? Go read it! :D

**Nelson – **Hey, Nelson. Did I happen to offend you or anything? Because in my previous chapter, I wrote about guys and their video games and stuff like that. Did I offend you? If I did then, I'm sorry! I didn't really mean it like that. Sorry! : )

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**Thanks, all of you, for the reviews! :D**


	16. Aphrodite's Letter

**Hi, all! So this is more of a filler than a proper chapter. I'm sorry if it's short and I know most of you are probably mad because you've been waiting for months now and I've only given a short chapter. And it seems like I've broken my promises. This few months has been tough and rough for me. I don't expect you to understand but I just hope that you guys could be patient with me. And, like I said, there isn't going to be a sequel because I can't come up ideas for the sequel so I think that this story is probably going to have the most, 30 chapters. I'm really sorry, once again. I hope I haven't lost any of my great readers out there! So read on and please review. : )**

_Oh and I have an important question below! Please read it and it'd be nice to have an answer too. : )_

Chapter 16: Aphrodite's Letter

_Mee-uf-oww_

I do realise that Nala has been growling at me for me to wake up for the past 10 minutes but I choose to ignore it. After everything that has happened and after all those things that I've been through, all that I could ever ask for was just to sleep for one full day to get things off my mind. All I wanted to do was just sleep and dream. Dream of the good things like where all of my family is reunited and together, even dad, and John was nowhere in the picture. Dreams like everything was peaceful and there's no evil bitch who is trying to dominate the world and take out all of the human race. Dreams like when everything was normal and I didn't have this much pressure and weight on my shoulder. But when I do realise that this is life and it's being a real pain in the butt and that if I don't get up right now, I could put many people's lives into danger, I had no choice but to open my eyes and get on with life. But that doesn't stop me from just lying down on my bed and thinking about everything.

Nala's growls has stop. Maybe it's because I'm finally awake. Maybe it's because she's loving the way I scratch the top of her head. I'm glad I manage to find Nala. If she wasn't here with me right now, I would be entirely lonely. With Stevie Rae gone… _Stevie Rae. _I shifted my head to the side to where Stevie Rae's bed is. I can't believe she's gone. I know that I just met her and I've known her for like about two months but I feel as if we've known each other for a really long time. She was my best friend, my sister, and knowing that she can't be there for me anymore hurts because I thought that my life was starting to get settled in. I guess not.

For the umpteenth time the moment I woke up, I sighed a heavy sigh. It seems as if all I do mostly is to just sigh. After spending minutes lying in my bed, I didn't realise that it was already 5:30pm and I'll be late for classes if I don't get my butt in the showers right now. And that's when I could hear her. I could hear Stevie Rae's voice in my head, shouting at me to go shower right now. I laughed at the thought of that. Just when I thought that I wouldn't be able to hear her nagging voice forever... _Just kidding._

I got out of the shower to see Nala sitting right in front of the door and I found that strange because why would a cat sit in front of a door like it's waiting for someone to come or enter? I stared at her for a long time when I realise that she was sitting _on _something. As I got closer, I realised that that something was an envelope. There's a letter for me.

I picked up Nala so that I could bend down and pick the letter up. On the front of the envelope, written in a cursive handwriting, was my name. When I opened the letter, I realised that it was from Aphrodite and whatever that happened last night, came rushing back to me. _So after kissing Stark in front of me and disappearing for one whole day, she thinks she can write me a letter as a form of apology or something? _I thought. Nonetheless, I still read that letter.

_Zoey_

_I know that you're probably still mad at me after what I did and by the time you're reading this, I have already left the House of Night. Yes, I decided to leave the House of Night. I couldn't stand to be in that place after what Neferet has put me through. I guess I should probably start from the beginning._

_Neferet has got me blackmailed. Since I have visions and I can see the future, she decided to take advantage of me for her plan to have the war with the humans. Remember that time when I had a really horrible vision and my eyes were bloody? Yeah, she blackmailed me into telling you all those things so that you would be afraid of her. Not that the vision isn't true. It is true, and she's planning to have Kalona rise from the ground very soon. That's where you come in. You have to stop her, Zoey. We can't let her do this. If I heard correctly, she's planning to rise him in the upcoming ritual. You have to be ready by then. Neferet is going crazy. Oh, and I knew about Loren Blake too. That's why I warned you. Neferet didn't want me to tell you but I guess warning you is the least that I could do. I'm sorry, Zoey. I put you into those hardships._

_As for me, you don't have to worry. I told Neferet that I'm going to be living in one of my parents' villas but obviously, I'm not. I just need some time of my own and I'm just going to lay low for a while. As for Stark, I'm really sorry for that. Neferet has got him compelled and asked me to kiss him so that you could get your heart broken and the job would be easier for her. It wasn't his fault at all. Please forgive him. He really loves you so much, Zoey. I mean, I've never seen him this in love. And Darius, please tell him that I'm sorry and that I love him. I wish all of you the best of luck. I'm sorry, Zoey. I hope you could forgive me. See you soon._

_Xoxo_

_Aphrodite_

Honestly, I didn't know what to think off after I've read that letter. So Aphrodite has decided to leave the House of Night so that she could have some time off, and Stark really does loves me. My first instinct was to run off and talk to Stark, but it was also to run off and tell the rest of the gang about this letter. But I thought that I deserve to apologise Stark first since I really must have broken his heart. So that was what I did. I ran off to Stark's dorm room.

x**X**x

_Okay. Breathe in, breathe out. You're just going to knock onto that door, tell him you're sorry and everything is back to normal between you both. Okay, go Zoey. Knock that door._

"Hold on, I'm coming!" The sound of Stark's voice from behind the door made my heart beat even faster. What if Stark doesn't accept my apology? What if he hates me because I don't trust him and I accused him just like that? Or worse, what if he doesn't love me anymore? Knocking on Stark's door suddenly became such a bad decision. I was about to turn around and run away when Stark opened the door. It's too late. I guess I'll just have to face with whatever that's coming.

"Zoey, hey. What are you…what are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, may I…may I come in?" _Breathe._

"Yeah, sure." Stark ushered me into his room and closed the door. I didn't know what to do so I decided to just stand in the middle of his room.

"Where's Damien?" I figured I should at least start the conversation.

"Oh, he's with Jack. He's been sleeping over at his room lately." And that was it.

"So…what do you want to talk about?" Suddenly, I became speechless. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what words to use. How could I get this nervous and weak in front of him? I was feeling scared and nervous but my subconscious was pushing me.

_Zoey, just go and say it!_

"Look, Stark, I'm really sorry. Aphrodite told me what happened and I shouldn't have just accused you like that. Stark, I'm really, really sorry! Please forgive me!"

I didn't realise that I kept mumbling until Stark gripped my shoulders and that made me shut up. What is he going to say? At that moment, we stared into each other's eyes without saying anything. We both weren't saying anything but it was a silence that said everything. That moment, I could really tell. Stark wasn't mad at me.

"Why?" I whispered to him. After all that I've done, why wouldn't he be mad?

"Because, Zoey, I know you didn't mean it. I know it was an act on impulse. I mean, I would've done the same thing if I were you," Stark answered.

Just like that, he pulled me into his arms and the next thing I knew, we were hugging each other and feeling each other's comfort. Oh, how much I have missed his hugs. I miss the way he makes me feel safe around him. I miss how he hugs me. I miss feeling him. I miss everything about him.

"I miss you," I said quietly, smiling through the tears that are starting to form in my eyes.

"I miss you too, love." And that was all I needed to feel safe and happy.

Yet again, like always, I have to tell him and the rest of the gang about Aphrodite and what she's about to do. So I told Stark to wait for me at the dining hall with the rest of the gang because I have one more thing that I have to do. Before he left, he kissed me on the cheek and that put a light smile on my face.

"Hey, Zoey?" Stark called out.

I turned around to see him grinning. "Yeah?" I asked suspiciously.

"Happy birthday."

That just brightened my day.

x**X**x

I tried searching everywhere for him and it failed. I looked at my watch and realised that I didn't have much time before classes begin. I thought of all the places that he could be and almost felt dumb that I didn't check the library. _You've really got it good, Zoey. _I ignored that thought and walked to the library. I heaved a sigh of relief to find Darius, sitting on one of the couches and reading a book. It's about time!

"Hey, Darius. How's it going?" I asked as I sat on the couch next to him. I decided to take a peek on what book he was reading and was kind of shocked to see him reading a book about love.

"What? Boys can't read romance novels?" Darius must have seen me staring into his book with that weird expression of mine.

"I didn't say that! It's just…unusual. I mean you don't see boys reading romance novels that much, do you?" I said while laughing lightly.

Everything became silent and it was an awkward moment. I decided to look at Darius' face and see how he's doing. Dark circles are forming under his eyes and he looks like he hasn't been having a good sleep in a while. Could it be because of Aphrodite? I mean, they were a couple.

"Are you okay?" I decided to say my thoughts.

He put the book down and scoffed lightly.

"Honestly…no, I don't feel okay. Why would she leave?" I knew he was talking about Aphrodite. I looked at my watch and saw that I have about another half an hour before classes start. I could grab something light to eat.

"Walk me to the dining hall, will you? Come on," I said while getting him to stand up.

As we walked to the dining hall, I thought of how I should tell Darius. Aphrodite did ask me to tell him that she's sorry and she loves him, but how am I going to say that? Again, I sighed.

"Listen, Darius," I began. "Aphrodite wrote me a letter. She's going to lay low for a while and I think that she should really do that given the reasons she gave me."

I think I just made that sound confusing.

"Anyway, she wanted me to tell you that she's really sorry and that she really, really loves you." That made him smile a little.

"Why don't you meet me and the rest of the gang after classes are over and I'll tell you everything. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure," he said.

By then, we reached the doors to the dining hall and we parted ways. I joined my friends at the table and told them to meet me at my room so that I could tell them everything about Aphrodite's letter and Neferet's plan. It's going to be a hell of a time.

x**X**x

So classes have ended and the rest of the gang are gathered here, in my dorm. Honestly, I don't know where to begin and judging from the silence in the room, they are expecting me to start off the conversation. I was the one who called into this meeting, anyway. I should start off.

"So…" I began, "I think all of you should probably know that Aphrodite has left right?"

I heard a wince on my right and look to see Darius hung his head low. This must be hard for him. I mean, I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if Stark left just like that. Moving on, I asked the question that would clear my doubts, "Did she write all of you a letter too?"

As I look among my group of friends, their facial expression tells me that none of them knew what I was talking about. _It's only me and Darius, then. _I thought to myself. Again, I sighed a heavy sigh. I don't know what to do about this. Everything is starting to get so screwed up.

"I should probably start from the beginning, then."

So I told them everything about whatever Aphrodite said in the letter, skipping the part about Stark, of course. I told them about what Aphrodite thinks that Neferet has planned and that we could get prepared. After telling them, I got a brief idea about what we should do in my head and decided to tell them that too. Since there is going to be some fighting, which I prayed not to happen, I suggested that maybe we should practice our elements and learn some techniques to defend ourselves and maybe fight. I looked at Stark with a worried expression hoping that he gets what I'm thinking. As recognition spread over his face, he looked a bit worried at first but after some thought, he looked back at me and gave me a nod. I smiled him a thank you. Since Darius is not really part of the circle, I decided to ask him if he wanted to join.

"Neferet broke my love's heart. I'm gonna rip her apart."

I guess that was it, then. We have a war to prepare.

_Please read below. I have a really important question. And to start off slowly, it would be nice to have at least, 5 reviews. It would be better to have more, though. Haha!_

**I told you it was a short chapter. I'm really sorry. So please review if you want to keep me writing! Oh, **_**I have been thinking of maybe scrapping this story so I need your opinon on it. **__**Do you want me to comtinue or stop with the story?**__** It would really mean a lot for your opinions. So please review. : ) **_**I should be having the next chapter up within a few days. See you soon. : )**


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